The Labour Party broke equalities law according to an Anti-Semitism report. The report published today found the party was “responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination”.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) identified serious failings in the party’s leadership in addressing anti-Semitism. The report also found that the party had “inadequate processes” for complaint handling.
As a result of the report the party has been given an unlawful act notice. An action plan must now be published within six weeks.
The investigation was launched in May 2019 after a number of complaints.
The EHRC said that Labour was responsible for three breaches of the Equality Act. The first being political interference in anti-Semitism complaints. The second is failure to provide adequate training to those handling anti-Semitism complaints. The final breach relates to harassment.
In a statement, it said: “The equality body’s analysis points to a culture within the party which, at best, did not do enough to prevent anti-Semitism and, at worst, could be seen to accept it.”
The Labour Party has yet to comment on the findings. The Jewish Labour Movement said the failures by the party’s leadership had “toxic effects” on Jewish members and the community.
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