Met Police open criminal inquiry after being handed Labour anti-Semitism dossier
2 min read
The Metroplitan Police have launched an inquiry into claims of anti-Semitic hate crimes in the Labour Party.
The move comes after Met commissioner Cressida Dick was handed a dossier of allegations of online abuse following an interview on LBC Radio.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: "On Tuesday September 4, the Met commissioner was handed a folder of paperwork following a radio interview with LBC Radio in Leicester Square.
"The complainant alleged that the documentation included evidence of antisemitic hate crimes.
"The contents have been examined by specialist officers.
"A criminal investigation has commenced into some of the allegations within the documentation.
"Early investigative advice is being sought from the Crown Prosecution Service."
Speaking on the Today programme this morning, Ms Dick stressed that the force was "not going to investigate the Labour party" as whole, with parties expected to "regulate themselves".
But she added: "However, if somebody passes us material that they say amounts to a crime, we have a duty to look at that and not just dismiss it.
"We have been assessing some material that was passed, in fact to me in a radio studio of all things, about two months ago and we are now investigating some of that material because it appears there may have been crime committed and we are liaising immediately with the Crown Prosecution Service and I hope we will be able to clear that up very quickly."
While Ms Dick said she could not "go in to the specifics" of the material handed to her, she said the allegations centred around "online crime".
LBC radio had been passed an internal Labour dossier outlining some 45 cases of alleged anti-semitism by party members.
According to the broadcaster, the allegations included a serving councillor accused of calling a child "Jew Boy", as well as a party member who threatened violence against a Jewish Labour MP.
A Labour spokeserson said: "The Labour Party has a robust system for investigating complaints of alleged breaches of Labour Party rules by its members.
"Where someone feels they have been a victim of crime, they should report it to the police in the usual way."
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