Labour still factional over anti-Semitism, inquiry lawyer says

The senior lawyer who led an inquiry into Labour's culture has said party members are still taking a "factional view" on his findings on anti-Semitism.

Martin Forde's inquiry found problems with Labour's structure and practices under former leader Jeremy Corbyn.

His report last year said opposing groups used the issue of anti-Semitism as a weapon.

At an event on Monday, he said rival "factions" were "cherry-picking" what he had said about his report.

Mr Forde raised concerns about the party's response to his report during an appearance at a virtual event organised by the Compass think tank.

The lawyer echoed his previous comments that complaints made by black and Asian members were not being treated as seriously as those related to anti-Semitism.

"I think part of the reason that factionalism has arisen around this is because there is a perception that different groups are treated differently," Mr Forde said.

He said: "I can still see that the so-called opposing factions are still cherry picking some of the things I've said in support of their faction or view, and nobody's contextualising anything."

The lawyer also appeared to criticise Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer's promise to adopt a "zero-tolerance approach to anti-Semitism and racism".

Last month, the Labour leader made the vow after the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) lifted the party out of two years of special measures over its past failings on anti-Semitism.

"Today, I make you a number of further promises: Firstly, that under my leadership there will zero tolerance of antisemitism, of racism, of discrimination of any kind," Sir Keir said at the time.

But Mr Forde said he gets "slightly irritated by zero tolerance as a phrase".

"We've heard it from the Met and we've heard it from various politicians," he said. "But you can't implement zero tolerance, it seems to me, unless you're policing things fairly rigorously and you've got transparent systems in place."

The BBC has contacted Mr Forde for comment.

The left-wing group Momentum questioned why Mr Forde's recommendation for an independent directorate, overseeing disciplinary matters in the Labour party, seemed to have been rejected by the leadership.

The group suggested that Mr Forde had proven that Sir Keir's promise to end factionalism has not been delivered.

A spokesperson for the Labour party said it was grateful to Mr Forde for his work in producing the report, and said it had introduced a new complains procedure, which ensured complaints were dealt with "fairly and impartially".

They added: "The party did not wait for the publication of the Forde Report to take action, and we have already implemented many of its recommendations. A working group of Labour's National Executive Committee has met regularly to determine how best to take forward remaining recommendations.

"With Keir Starmer's leadership, Labour has changed and real progress has been achieved in ridding the party of the destructive factionalism and unacceptable culture that did so much damage previously."

Labour MP Clive Lewis, who attended the event on Monday night, said he hoped more of the report was "taken on board...because I think it's essential for the future of the party."

"Retrospective bans, a lack of transparency of the process enhances these kind of factional suspicions. The party won't progress unless the factionalism is dealt with properly," he said.

Mr Forde's inquiry began in April 2020 after an 860-page dossier - dated March 2020 - was leaked.

It contained private WhatsApp messages and claimed some Labour workers had not wanted Mr Corbyn, on the party's left, to win the 2017 general election and had hindered efforts to tackle anti-Semitism.

But Mr Forde's report says factionalism was "endemic" within Labour and the issue of anti-Semitism was weaponised by both sides, not just the party's right.

The 139-page report also accused Labour of "in effect operating a hierarchy of racism or of discrimination".

The report made 165 recommendations, which Labour's said it would implement.

At the time of the report's release, Sir Keir apologised "to those affected for the culture and attitudes expressed by senior staff in the leaked report".

He said work was under way to change the culture of the party.

"The Forde Report provides concrete recommendations to help us achieve that, and I want to work with all those affected to drive this work through our party and ensure this never happens again," Sir Keir said.

But in recent weeks, Mr Forde has given media interviews in which he has claimed Labour under Sir Keir's leadership has not engaged with him after he published the report to discuss his recommendations further.