Labour’s leadership has agreed to be more transparent about anti-Semitism within the party, HuffPost UK can reveal.
An emergency meeting of the ruling National Executive Committee’s (NEC) officers group decided it would share data on the number of cases of abuse.
Other updates on progress to the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) are now expected when it meets on Monday, although it is unclear if general secretary Jennie Formby will appear in person.
The move by the party’s most senior officers, trade union reps and politicians followed fresh warnings from members of the House of Lords that Labour “risks normalising anti-Semitism” with its lack of action in tackling the problem.
The official peers group wrote to Formby on Thursday night to formally back MPs’ demands for faster progress on rooting out Jew hatred in the party, as well as greater transparency on the number of complaints of abuse.
In a letter passed to HuffPost UK, they also suggested that a failure to publish accurate figures creates the impression that Labour “has something to hide”.
Both MPs and peers will now get at least some of the information they have been demanding.
Formby informed some MPs this week that she may have a prior engagement next Monday.
The MPs’ motion explicitly demands a presentation to the PLP by someone from the party leadership, even if not the general secretary herself.
A Labour party source told HuffPost: “Before the last PLP meeting, Jennie offered to share disciplinary data with the PLP’s representatives on the NEC and regularly report back to the PLP.
“Following the decision at the PLP meeting, Jennie then asked the NEC for their permission to publish data and pushed hard to get their agreement.”
One NEC source said that Formby rejected the idea of sharing the data when the idea was raised the ruling body’s meeting in January.
In an unscheduled conference call with NEC officers, she is alleged to have told colleagues she now wanted to ‘get ahead of the curve’ on the issue.
The Lords’ stance was understood to be a strong show of solidarity with Jewish MPs such as Luciana Berger, who faced a motion of no confidence from local party activists who claimed she was undermining Jeremy Corbyn.
On a frantic day of political activity, the motion was withdrawn on Friday, but deputy leader Tom Watson urged Formby to suspend Liverpool Wavertree party for “bullying” its pregnant, Jewish MP.
Formby is set to return to face the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) on Monday after a heated clash this week with backbenchers furious at her refusal to comply with demands for fresh action on anti-Semitism.
On her appointment last year, the general secretary said her primary mission was to tackle the issue, but she angered MPs last Monday by claiming that it was impossible to “eradicate” anti-Semitism.
The PLP passed unanimously a motion calling on her to come up with detailed figures on how many cases are pending investigation, awaiting decision by the ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) disputes panel or its National Constitutional Committee (NCC) disciplinary body.
Catherine McKinnell, who tabled the motion, told HuffPost: “Like many of my colleagues, I want to hear on Monday precisely what progress has been made in rooting out antisemitism from our party, because it’s simply not good enough to claim this must be done from behind closed doors.
“Any organisation that has genuinely robust and transparent processes for dealing with complaints about racism - and nothing to hide - should have no problem in producing basic figures such as those unanimously requested by the PLP earlier this week.
“I hope the party’s leadership have finally seen sense on this if we are to have any hope of regaining the trust of the Jewish community, and indeed that of anyone who believes antisemitism has no place in our society.”
The new letter, written by Labour peers group chair Lord Harris and passed to HuffPost UK, reveals that the party’s Lords have given their full endorsement of the MPs’ demands.
“Labour peers continue to be dismayed and distressed by the slow pace of acting on the alleged cases of anti-semitism in the Labour Party,” he writes.
“Not only are we risking normalising anti-Semitism in the party, but we are also at risk of permanently damaging Labour’s relationship with the Jewish community.”
Last week, Formby said that she was answerable to the ruling NEC, not to MPs, and it had decided that she could not share confidential data.
A party sourced added at the time that “complaints processes are confidential and the party has a responsibility to protect members’ data.”
But the peers’ letter adds that they “feel very strongly” that the NEC should immediately establish a policy of openness about the number of allegations and how they are being handled.
“To do otherwise creates the impression that the party has something to hide and only makes an already bad situation worse.
“Furthermore, we do not accept that anti-Semitism cannot be eradicated from the party and that every effort must be made to do so as a matter of the utmost urgency.”
Before Formby’s appointment, many on the left criticised the party’s HQ for being too slow in processing anti-Semitism cases.
Former staffers insist the delays were caused by legal challenges from those accused of abuse, as well as a failure by some NEC members to refer cases for disciplinary action.
Jewish groups and others have said that since Formby took over, the promised progress in processing cases had failed to materialise and that delays are now even greater, with some of those accused avoiding expulsion from the party.
Formby’s supporters stress that she is overseeing a major change in the way Labour handles complaints.