'A dark day': Yorkshire Labour MPs reflect on report into party's anti-Semitism scandal as Jeremy Corbyn is suspended

The report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission released today found the party was responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination.

Mr Corbyn's successor as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer admitted the report's findings marked a "day of shame" for the party and said he was "truly sorry for all the pain and grief that has been caused".

But MR Corbyn himself was suspended from the party after he refused to withdraw comments in which he said the scale of the problem had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons”.

The "day of shame" description was echoed by Leeds Central MP Hilary Benn, who said: "We let down the Jewish community and we failed to uphold our values.

"Now is the moment for all of us to support Keir Starmer in his determination to bring about change so that this never happens again."

While Sheffield City Region mayor, and Barnsley Central MP, Dan Jarvis said: "Today is a dark day in the history of the Labour Party, but Keir Starmer has shown real leadership in committing to the full implementation of the EHRC’s recommendations as a matter of urgency.

“There is no place in the Labour Party for anti-Semites, or for those who seek to minimise or excuse antisemitism in our ranks. Jeremy Corbyn’s comments, and his refusal to retract those comments, have left the Labour Party no option but to suspend him pending a full investigation.

“I will continue to work closely with our new leadership to eradicate the scourge of antisemitism from our movement and rebuild our relationship with the Jewish community.”

However Leeds East MP Richard Burgon signalled his support for a statement from the Socialst Campaign Group, of which he is secretary, decrying Mr Corbyn's suspension.

The group said in a statement they “firmly oppose” the decision and would “work tirelessly for his reinstatement”.

A number of members of the group were also reported to be considering resigning the Labour whip.

Five Yorkshire MPs are members of the group: including Mr Burgon, Rachael Maskell (York Central), Olivia Blake (Sheffield Hallam), Imran Hussein (Bradford East), and Jon Trickett (Hemsworth).

Mr Corbyn has said he will “strongly contest” his suspension from Labour, signalling another outbreak of hostilities in the party’s bitter civil war.

Mr Corbyn, who frequently complained about elements in Labour headquarters trying to undermine him when he was leader, hit out at the “political intervention” which saw him suspended.

“I will strongly contest the political intervention to suspend me,” he said.

“I’ve made absolutely clear those who deny there has been an anti-Semitism problem in the Labour Party are wrong.”

John McDonnell, who was Mr Corbyn’s shadow chancellor, said the suspension was “profoundly wrong” but urged the former leader’s supporters to remain calm.

He said: “On the day we should all be moving forward and taking all steps to fight anti-Semitism, the suspension of Jeremy Corbyn is profoundly wrong.

“In (the) interests of party unity, let’s find a way of undoing and resolving this.

“I urge all party members to stay calm as that is the best way to support Jeremy and each other. Let’s all call upon the leadership to lift this suspension.”

While the pro-Corbyn Momentum pressure group said: “This suspension risks politicising Labour’s response to anti-Semitism.

“It is a massive attack on the left by the new leadership and should be immediately lifted in the interests of party unity.”

Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communications Workers’ Union, said the decision to suspend Mr Corbyn was “fundamentally wrong and needs to change”.

Meanwhile, money has been flowing in to a crowdfund aimed at paying Mr Corbyn’s legal costs should he face defamation action over earlier comments made about the anti-Semitism row.

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: “I’m devastated that it’s come to this. Today should be about really listening, and reading the report and taking in the report.

“It’s a day of shame for the Labour Party and the findings were stark.

“Jeremy is a fully decent man, but as Margaret Hodge said, he has an absolute blind spot, and a denial, when it comes to some of these issues and that’s devastating.”

She rejected Mr Corbyn’s assertion that anti-Semitism had been exaggerated and said the findings of the EHRC bring “shame on us”.

“And there’s no mitigation of that, and we have to acknowledge that and do something about it,” Ms Rayner added.

Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge, who clashed repeatedly with Mr Corbyn while he was leader, said the suspension was “the right decision following Corbyn’s shameful reaction to the EHRC report”.

Sir Keir said: “I want to unite the Labour Party and bring our factions together as a united party.

“But I made a very clear commitment to root out anti-Semitism and I’m going to follow through on that commitment.

“We cannot say ‘zero tolerance’ and then turn a blind eye.”

The EHRC investigation found evidence of "political interference" by then leader Mr Corbyn's office in the complaints process.

The EHRC's interim chairwoman Caroline Waters said there had been "inexcusable" failures which "appeared to be a result of a lack of willingness to tackle anti-Semitism rather than an inability to do so".

Mr Corbyn said he did not accept all the EHRC's findings and insisted he had improved the process for handling anti-Semitism complaints.

The EHRC identified three breaches of the Equality Act relating to: political interference in complaints, failure to provide adequate training to those handling anti-Semitism cases and harassment.

The party has been served with an unlawful act notice and has been given until December 10 to draft an action plan to implement the report's recommendations, which is legally enforceable by the courts if not fulfilled.

The EHRC found 23 instances of inappropriate involvement by the Leader of the Opposition's Office (LOTO) and others in the 70 files the watchdog looked at.

They included LOTO staff influencing decisions, including on suspensions or whether to investigate claims.

The watchdog found that the lack of training for people handling anti-Semitism complaints indirectly discriminated against Jewish members until August 2020, by which time Sir Keir Starmer was leader of the party.

Labour has committed to proper training, with the EHRC recommending it should be mandatory and fully implemented within six months.

The watchdog highlighted the actions of former London mayor Ken Livingstone and Pam Bromley, who was a councillor in Rossendale, Lancashire, during the anti-Semitism row.

The EHRC said Labour was responsible for their anti-Semitic conduct, resulting in a finding of unlawful harassment, because they were acting as agents of the party.

But the report said this was only the tip of the iceberg and a further 18 "borderline" cases were found, involving councillors, local election candidates and constituency party office holders where there was not enough evidence to conclude Labour was legally responsible for their conduct.

Recommendations made by the watchdog include commissioning an independent process to handle anti-Semitism complaints and acknowledging the effect political interference has had and implementing clear rules to stop it happening again.

The EHRC's lead investigator Alasdair Henderson told a press conference that blame could not be placed on one person alone and the problem went beyond Mr Corbyn but added that "as leader of the party, and with evidence of political interference from within his office, he does have a responsibility ultimately for those failings".

In a statement, Mr Corbyn said: "The EHRC's report shows that when I became Labour leader in 2015, the party's processes for handling complaints were not fit for purpose. Reform was then stalled by an obstructive party bureaucracy.

"But from 2018, (then general secretary) Jennie Formby and a new NEC that supported my leadership made substantial improvements, making it much easier and swifter to remove anti-Semites. My team acted to speed up, not hinder the process."

In response to the EHRC report, he said that "while I do not accept all of its findings, I trust its recommendations will be swiftly implemented to help move on from this period".

But Sir Keir - at a press conference with a backdrop stressing "a new leadership" - said: "If - after all the pain, all the grief, and all the evidence in this report - there are still those who think there's no problem with anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, that it's all exaggerated, or a factional attack, then, frankly, you are part of the problem too.

"And you should be nowhere near the Labour Party either."

The Jewish Labour Movement said blame for the "sordid, disgraceful chapter" in the party's history "lies firmly with those who held positions of leadership".

The Campaign Against Antisemitism's Gideon Falter said: "Jeremy Corbyn and those around him who took part in, or enabled, the gaslighting, harassment and victimisation of Britain's Jewish minority are shamed for all time."

A joint statement from the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council and the Community Security Trust said: "This report is a damning verdict on what Labour did to Jews under Jeremy Corbyn and his allies."