Labour expels 12 members for anti-semitism after receiving hundreds of complaints
2 min read
Labour expelled 12 party members for anti-semitism after considering hundreds of complaints, it has been announced.
General secretary Jennie Formby revealed the figures in an email to Labour MPs and peers.
That came after she was given a week by the Parliamentary Labour Party to outline what officials were doing to tackle the problem.
In the email, Ms Formby - who angered last Monday's PLP meeting by insisting it was "impossible" to eradicate anti-semitism entirely - revealed that the party had received 673 accusations of racism against Jewish people between April last year and January this year.
Of those, 96 members were immediately suspended, 146 received a written warning, 220 cases were dismissed because of a lack of evidence, and 211 were issued with a "Notice of Investigation".
A total of 42 party members were referred to Labour's quasi-judicial National Constitutional Committee, with five leaving before their case was heard.
Of the 18 NCC decisions which have been made so far, 12 members have been expelled, six were sanctioned and the rest are waiting a decision.
In her email, Ms Formby said: "It is clearly of the utmost importance that everyone feels welcome in our party and we must ensure that includes all members of our Jewish communities."
But one Labour MP told PoliticsHome: "The stain of anti-semitism and bullying is alive and well in Corbyn's party and as long as he continues to turn a blind eye to what is going on the worse it’s going to get.
"He’s allowed the Labour party to become a culture of intolerance and bullying and he should be ashamed."
A Labour spokesperson said: "Jennie Formby, after obtaining the NEC’s agreement, has published the figures on anti-semitism complaints handled by the party and published a report on the work the party has done and is doing to speed up and strengthen our procedures, increasing transparency.
"These figures relate to about 0.1% of our membership, but one anti-semite in our party is one too many. We are committed to tackling antisemitism and rooting it out of our party once and for all.”
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