Formby denies Labour leadership is ignoring MPs on antisemitism

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/12/formby-denies-labour-leadership-is-ignoring-mps-on-antisemitism

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Labour’s general secretary has defended her absence from a parliamentary party meeting on antisemitism and warned MPs against attacking staff dealing with the crisis.Jennie Formby wrote to MPs on Tuesday night in response to a letter by several MPs expressing their anger that no one from the party leadership had taken questions at Monday night’s meeting about the news that the party had investigated 673 cases of alleged antisemitism and expelled 12 members.Formby, who released the figures to MPs before the meeting, said she had made it clear early on to John Cryer, the secretary of the parliamentary Labour party, that she could not attend.“I absolutely reject the suggestion in the letter that the leadership of the party has ignored the views of the PLP,” Formby wrote. “The constant and often public criticism of our dedicated and talented staff team is unacceptable and is causing them considerable distress.”Formby hit back specifically at a claim made by the MP Margaret Hodge that cast doubt on the figures, saying she alone had submitted a dossier of 200 examples of antisemitism.

Formby said investigations had found those complaints referred to 111 reported individuals, of whom only 20 were members.During Monday’s meeting, MPs criticised the fact that the figures only included complaints made since April last year, and said there were questions over the criteria by which some members had received a conduct reminder and no further action.Formy responded: “To identify complaints of antisemitism, staff would have to go through every single complaint received in the earlier period. This would be hugely time-consuming and would take their efforts away from the important task of processing complaints.” However, she confirmed the party had expelled seven members before April.The party’s former general secretary Iain McNicol had questioned Formby’s previous assertion that there had been no system in place for tracking complaints before April.Formby said she could not answer MPs’ requests about money spent on legal fees for the cases, but said there had been “significant investment in stamping out the issue of antisemitism”, including hiring another six staff.

The meeting was held after the deputy leader, Tom Watson, clashed with the party chair, Ian Lavery, at the weekly shadow cabinet meeting about the case of the Liverpool Wavertree MP Luciana Berger.

A Labour source said Corbyn and other Labour MPs had expressed solidarity with Berger and the antisemitic abuse she had received, saying it was right that her constituency Labour party had withdrawn a planned vote of no confidence in her.

However, it is understood Lavery staunchly defended the local party’s right to hold their MP to account. “He was the loudest voice defending the CLP as others expressed solidarity with Luciana,” one source said.

Whatever Luciana Berger’s politics, Labour members must stand with her against antisemitism | Owen Jones

The motion was apparently pulled under pressure from Labour HQ, after it emerged that one of Berger’s key opponents within the local party, Kenneth Campbell, had said she should be “exposed for the disruptive Zionist she is”.

The chair of Wavertree CLP, Alex Scott-Samuel, was also revealed to have been a regular on a chat show on the website of conspiracy theorist David Icke. That show’s host, Richie Allen, who has now parted ways with Icke, has also hosted the former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and Alison Chabloz, a self-described “Holocaust revisionist”.

Watson had urged the party to consider suspending the local party, a suggestion which was rejected by Formby.

Berger has faced increasingly persistent antisemitic abuse and had a police escort at last year’s Labour party conference after receiving death threats.

In the letter to Corbyn signed by Berger, Hodge, Louise Ellman, John Mann, Catherine McKinnell, Ruth Smeeth and Wes Streeting, the MPs said further information was needed by the end of Wednesday.

They said the PLP demanded to see information about complaints made before April 2018, the money spent on legal counsel, the organisations providing antisemitism training, and how the party was implementing a duty of care to its MPs.

“The failure to respect the request for this simple information does nothing to dispel the accusation that Labour is an institutionally antisemitic organisation,” they wrote.

A Labour source said Formby had made a commitment to constantly review the processes for determining sanctions when there was evidence of antisemitic behaviour. “There was a commitment from all of the shadow cabinet to rebuilding trust and the historic relationship with the Jewish community, as well as supporting party members and party democracy,” the source said.

A party spokesperson said Formby’s letter answered the MPs’ questions “transparently” and explained the progress being made in dealing with antisemitism cases. “She reiterates her commitment to continuing the work to improve the party’s complaints procedures … praises the dedicated hard work of Labour party staff who deal with complaints and commits to ongoing constructive engagement with the PLP.”