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Staff testimony given to Labour anti-Semitism probe | Staff testimony given to Labour anti-Semitism probe |
(about 8 hours later) | |
Seventy serving and ex-Labour officials have given sworn statements to an official investigation into the party's handling of anti-Semitism allegations. | |
The statements form part of a submission - seen by the BBC - from the Jewish Labour Movement to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). | The statements form part of a submission - seen by the BBC - from the Jewish Labour Movement to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). |
The commission announced a formal investigation earlier this year. | The commission announced a formal investigation earlier this year. |
Labour's John Healey said the party had "toughened up" its action on tackling anti-Semitism. | |
The Jewish Labour Movement is asking the EHRC to urge Labour to acknowledge it has become "institutionally anti-Semitic" and needs to change. | |
The organisation - affiliated to the party for a century and representing about 2,500 members - asked the EHRC to look in to Labour's handling of anti-Semitism allegations. | |
Its submission argues that anti-Semitic conduct has become "pervasive" in recent years. | |
It also suggests there are no reliable figures for how many cases of anti-Semitism still have to be dealt with by the party's complaints team, despite the Labour leadership arguing processes have been speeded-up. | |
The Jewish Labour Movement is claiming that 136 complaints were outstanding in October, while around 100 allegations were not logged in the system at all. | |
The EHRC declined to comment, saying its investigation was "live and ongoing". | The EHRC declined to comment, saying its investigation was "live and ongoing". |
Labour says the Jewish Labour Movement's figures are inaccurate but has not provided any official statistics on the issue since July. | |
The Jewish Labour Movement's submission includes a signed affidavit from a former Labour official who alleges they were asked to transfer details of complaints being investigated at Labour's headquarters to leader Jeremy Corbyn's office. | |
A Labour spokesman said the party was not institutionally anti-Semitic and it was the only party to have published any figures on cases. | |
He added that under the party's new procedures there would be more rapid expulsions - and Labour was co-operating with the EHRC. | He added that under the party's new procedures there would be more rapid expulsions - and Labour was co-operating with the EHRC. |
Shadow housing secretary John Healey told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that action had been "too slow and too weak at the start" and was now being "toughened up". | |
"I'm confident the cases that are coming in are being dealt with, and if they're coming in they will be dealt with," he said. | |
"I feel this is a dreadful state, that a group like the Jewish Labour Movement, which has been at the heart of the Labour Party for decades, feels so let down. | |
"I would want to reinforce and repeat the apology that Jeremy Corbyn has made for this." |