Corbyn ‘inner circle’ accused of interfering in anti-Semitism cases
Video report by ITV News Political Correspondent Paul Brand
A senior Labour MP has accused members of Jeremy Corbyn’s inner circle of interfering in the outcome of anti-Semitism cases to reduce the sanction imposed.
Dame Margaret Hodge claimed Mr Corbyn had either misled her or been misled himself about the extent of his team’s involvement in cases.
She accused Mr Corbyn of promising a "zero tolerance approach" but did not demonstrate that if the cases involved his “mates”.
Dame Margaret, who is Jewish, has a history of clashes with Mr Corbyn.
Labour insisted it was "categorically untrue" to suggest that staff in the leader’s office overturned recommendations in cases.
But leaked emails obtained by The Times showed that a member of Mr Corbyn’s team, Laura Murray, last year recommended that a woman should be spared suspension after defending a mural which the leader himself had acknowledged was anti-Semitic.
Mr Corbyn himself came under fire over a 2012 message in which he questioned whether the mural – showing hook-nosed bankers oppressing mankind – should be removed. He later apologised and said he had not looked closely enough at the image.
The email exchange shows that Labour’s head of disputes recommended a member’s administrative suspension over a Facebook post in which she said it was a "great" mural and should not be painted over.
Ms Murray responded that, while the post showed "ignorance and a lack of understanding," the woman had not "displayed any specific attitudes herself."
She recommended writing to the member to establish why she had not understood the image was anti-Semitic and making a decision on suspension only if her answers showed "an unwillingness to be educated about these tropes."
Dame Margaret said that the case "confirms all of my concerns" about interventions by the leader’s inner circle, adding: "Either Corbyn or his office have deliberately misled me."
And the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Marie van der Zyl said: "It is intensely disturbing to hear reports that the Labour leader’s office has intervened to stop the suspension of a member who defended an anti-Semitic mural in east London.
"Labour has long told us that complaints are expedited independently. This case would indicate that there is something less than ‘zero tolerance’ for anti-Semitism in the leader’s office and shows contempt for the concerns of the Jewish community.”
But a Labour spokesman said the email exchange dated back to a time before its general secretary, Jennie Formby, introduced "more robust" procedures for dealing with complaints.
"Staff who work on disciplinary matters have always led on investigations and recommendations on individual cases," said the spokesman.
"Any suggestion that staff in the leader’s office overturned recommendations on individual cases is categorically untrue."
A Labour source said that it was "seriously misleading" to focus on a handful of cases heard under processes which were now "defunct."
"This is a deeply unfair attack on staff working in good faith to apply the party rulebook to individual cases and get through the backlog of unresolved complaints Jennie Formby inherited," said the source.
"No-one stopped the suspension. Laura was asked for her advice, and she suggested that questions be put to the individual and a decision about suspension taken following the response. She argued in favour of suspension if that response was unco-operative. As always, the ultimate decision was made by the staff who work on disciplinary matters."
Dame Margaret has written to Mr Corbyn setting out her concerns, which follow an Observer report at the weekend about the process followed in certain anti-Semitism cases.
The Barking and Dagenham MP said she has been given "absolute, copper-bottomed undertakings" by Mr Corbyn there was "no interference in the complaints process by his inner circle."
She added: "What we then discover from the Observer on Sunday … is that a whole number of his top team – not just one person, lots of them – are involved in decisions around individual complaints and what they do is they interfere and they lower the sanctions so people aren’t suspended, they are just given a warning letter.
"What is so awful about this is that Jeremy always proclaims zero tolerance of anti-Semitism. When it comes to the actual cases, if they are his mates he doesn’t demonstrate zero tolerance.
"He claims no political interference in these cases, I have now seen so much evidence there is definitely political interference.
"So trust in him has gone. Misleading me, or himself being misled, really undermines my trust for him.”
She also questioned the plan for former lord chancellor, Lord Falconer, to be brought in to examine the issue, saying she did not believe he was independent and it could be a repeat of Baroness Chakrabarti’s inquiry, which critics branded a whitewash.
Dame Margaret said Lord Falconer had repeatedly urged her to apologise following a heated clash with Mr Corbyn last year in which she called the Labour leader a "racist and anti-Semite."
Meanwhile, shadow cabinet minister Angela Rayner revealed she has had panic buttons installed in her house after receiving threats from people claiming to be Corbyn supporters.
Ms Rayner came under attack on social media over the weekend after tweeting praise for a TV interview by Tony Blair and saying "all shades of red" should be welcome in Labour.
She warned: "My house has panic buttons fitted. My colleague was assassinated doing her job that I do week in week out. Jeremy was attacked this weekend. We have to stop the personal attacks and be kinder to each other."