GMB trade union warns leaked Labour anti-semitism report is causing ‘immense stress’ to party staff
3 min read
A leaked report into Labour’s handling of anti-semitism complaints is causing “immense stress” for party workers named in it, according to a major union.
The GMB’s Labour Party staff branch said it was “unacceptable” that its members had been publicly named and had their communications monitored in drawing up the 860-page document.
The dossier, which was drawn up by allies of Jeremy Corbyn, was leaked to Sky News last weekend and revealed an extensive cache of WhatsApp messages between former party staff criticising the former Labour leader and his aides.
It suggested their opposition to Mr Corbyn had undermined Labour's attempts to tackle anti-semitism and as well as it 2017 general election campaign.
New Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his deputy, Angela Rayner, have launched an independent inquiry into how the report was drawn up, its contents and the manner in which it was leaked.
In a statement, the GMB branch said it was “deeply concerned” at both the document’s contents and the fact it was leaked.
The union said: “It is also disappointing that much of the report diverts from the scope of its declared intention, which was to look into the Labour Party’s response to antisemitism.”
And they added: “It is also extremely worrying that the report contains transcripts of private conversations between staff on private accounts, using personal equipment.
“We agree some of the selected comments attributed to senior staff are absolutely indefensible, it is worth noting that they are not being seen within context and some comments attributed are being flatly denied.
“It is also unacceptable that staff members across all levels have had their private communication accessed and their names leaked publicly.”
IMMENSE STRESS
The GMB branch said Labour would “rightly not accept” intrusion into staff communications “in any other workplace”, and said the party “should never countenance such practices in the party – let alone authorise them”.
They warned: “This is causing immense stress for those workers, as well as colleagues who are not named but now feel a deep sense of mistrust toward their employer, and the GMB is available to provide support for any of those staff members that require it.”
But Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said those accused of sending abusive WhatsApp messages should be suspended by the party.
Writing for LabourList, he said: "Those named in the report have of course the right to defend, contextualise or explain what is set out. They could even just apologise."
Mr McCluskey added: "Where there is clear evidence of a party member having engaged in misogynistic or abusive conduct, or having worked to undermine the party’s election campaign, or even having broken the law, there is a case for suspension pending a thorough investigation (with no presumption of guilt).
DIANE ABBOTT
The interventions came as anti-racism campaign group HOPE Not Hate demanded action on derogatory comments contained in the report about the party’s former Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott.
In a statement, the group said Labour “must address the alleged treatment of Diane Abbott by Labour Party staff during the 2017 General Election”.
They added: “As the first Black woman elected to parliament Diane has spent her life having to fight those who belittle and undermine her because of her gender and her race. Material included in this memo shows that Labour Party staffers chose to be a part of that problem.”
Speaking on Wednesday morning, Labour leader Keir Starmer called for an end to Labour "factionalism" - and said he had been “shocked” by the contents of the report.
He added: "That's why I ordered an independent inquiry, which I want to be professionally done, independently done and quickly done because our party needs to unite and face the future and get back to our historic purpose which is getting a Labour government in so we can actually change lives for millions of people for the better."
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