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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Jessica Murray (now); Ben Quinn and Nazia Parveen (earlier)

Jeremy Corbyn to fight suspension from Labour after EHRC antisemitism report comments – as it happened

Summary

The repercussions of today’s events are likely to be felt in the Labour party for a long time to come - here’s a rundown of events as they happened.

  • EHRC report finds Labour responsible for unlawful acts of discrimination and harassment. An investigation into the Labour party by the equalities watchdog found it was responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination, and identified what it described as “serious failings in the Labour party leadership in addressing antisemitism and an inadequate process for handling antisemitism complaints”.
  • Jeremy Corbyn said he did not accept all of the EHRC’s findings and that the scale of the antisemitism problem in Labour was “dramatically overstated” for political reasons. He also said he was “determined to eliminate all forms of racism and root out the cancer of anti-Semitism” and admitted “Jewish members of our party and the wider community were right to expect us to deal with it, and I regret that it took longer to deliver that change than it should.”
  • Labour given until 10 December to draft an action plan. The party was given until 10 December to draft an action plan to implement the report’s recommendations, which is legally enforceable by the courts if not fulfilled.
  • Keir Starmer said it was a ‘day of shame’ for the Labour party. “The EHRC’s reports are stark and leave no room for equivocation,” Keir Starmer said in his first reaction to the release.
  • Labour suspended Jeremy Corbyn. A Labour party spokesman said: “In light of his comments made today and his failure to retract them subsequently, the Labour Party has suspended Jeremy Corbyn pending investigation.”
  • Corbyn said he would contest ‘political intervention’ to suspend him. “I’ve made absolutely clear that those who deny there has been an antisemitism problem in the Labour party are wrong,” he said in a statement.
  • Momentum described Corbyn’s suspension as ‘massive attack on the left’. Momentum, which was set set up in 2015 to support the leftwing of the Labour party under the leadership of Corbyn, said the suspension should be immediately lifted in the interests of party unity.
  • Keir Starmer said he ‘fully supports’ the move to suspend Jeremy Corbyn. “I made it clear that we would not support antisemitism or the denial of antisemitism through the suggestion that it is exaggerated or factional and that is why I was disappointed by Jeremy Corbyn’s response and that is why appropriate action has been taken, which I fully support,” he said.
  • Jeremy Corbyn urged Labour supporters to ‘stay in the party’ and fight. In an interview following the removal of the party whip Corbyn called for calm and for members to “make the case” for leftwing values internally.
  • Unite boss Len McCluskey said Corbyn suspension will ‘create chaos’ in Labour party. Corbyn ally McCluskey said the division created by today’s events would leave Labour “doomed to defeat”.
  • Cabinet office minister, Michael Gove, wrote a scathing letter to Keir Starmer, challenging him over his “failure to speak out” on antisemitism during his time in the shadow cabinet, and demanding answers on Corbyn’s future in the Labour party.

Updated

A snap YouGov poll has shown 41% of Labour voters think suspending Jeremy Corbyn was the right decision, with 26% believing it to be wrong.

Across the general population as a whole, 58% think it was the right decision, and 13% think it was wrong.

The poll also showed that 45% of Labour voters think Corbyn was a good leader of the party, compared with 62% who think Keir Starmer is.

Updated

The editor of LabourList, Sienna Rodgers, has said members of Labour’s national executive committee have challenged the general secretary, David Evans, over his decision to suspend Corbyn at an ongoing meeting and are questioning his right to do so.

Legal action is being discussed, she reports, as is the possibility of the NEC overturning the decision.

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn speaking earlier today - he has said he will strongly contest his suspension from the Labour party, calling it a “political intervention”.

Updated

With Momentum rallying behind Corbyn against Starmer, old battles are coming back to life, writes the Guardian’s parliamentary sketch writer, John Crace.

At a time when Labour should be focused on the government’s incompetent handling of the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit, the party was tearing itself apart again.

Momentum and other Corbyn supporters were treating their man as a saint, martyred in the pursuit of pure socialism, while the rest of the party was desperately trying to find a way to move on from an issue that had festered for years.

And a note from the Guardian’s deputy political editor, Jessica Elgot: party discipline following the decision to suspend Corbyn is holding for now, but for how long? Many big Labour names are yet to have their say.

Updated

The Cabinet office minister, Michael Gove, has written a scathing letter to the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, challenging him over his “failure to speak out” on antisemitism during his time in the shadow cabinet.

“It is easy to take a position on antisemitism in hindsight, but you seemingly found it much harder to find the moral character and backbone to do what was right at the time,” he said.

He posed Starmer a series of questions, including why Corbyn had not been expelled and whether he would still be a Labour candidate at the next election.

“Considering one year ago you were campaigning to elect Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister, many people will rightly worry about your failure to speak out and challenge leadership at the time.”

Updated

Unite boss Len McCluskey says Corbyn suspension will 'create chaos' in Labour party

The Unite union boss and Corbyn ally Len McCluskey said the decision to suspend the former party leader would “create chaos” within Labour and leave it “doomed to defeat”.

This was a day for our party to move forward as one to defeat the evil of antisemitism. However, the decision to suspend Jeremy Corbyn has threatened that opportunity.

The suspension appears to fly in the face of one of the important recommendations made by the EHRC, and which Keir himself said he would implement in full and immediately, which is to remove the leader’s office from party investigations.

But it is also an act of grave injustice which, if not reversed, will create chaos within the party and in doing so compromise Labour’s chances of a general election victory. A split party will be doomed to defeat.

I therefore call upon Keir to work across the party on a fitting and unifying way forward, to unite our party behind the implementation of the EHRC’s important recommendations so that they can be taken forward as speedily as possible, and with the members’ full trust and confidence.

I also appeal to members angered by this suspension not to leave the party but to support moves to find a better way through.

Working people are under fire like never before and ill-served by the worst government of our lifetimes. More than ever, they need a strong, united Labour party to stand up for them, ready to govern.

Earlier, the shadow foreign secretary, Lisa Nandy, said the decision was taken “by the Labour party and not by the leader’s office, as per the recommendation in the EHRC report that the leader should not interfere in these decisions”.

Updated

Jewish Voice for Labour, a network for Jewish Labour party members, has launched a petition to reinstate Jeremy Corbyn, saying it was “appalled” by his suspension.

The petition, which does not comment on the EHRC report, said Corbyn’s comments were “not a valid cause” for suspension, calling it an “injustice”. It has gathered 35,000 signatures.

It adds that the “suspension appears to be a pretext to purge Corbyn and the left, and delegitimise left wing politics more broadly”.

In a tweet, JVR said: “We are appalled that Jeremy Corbyn has been suspended from the Labour Party and the whip withdrawn. He has a proud record of fighting all forms of racism and antisemitism.

“This is an attack both on Jeremy and on the majority of party members. Do not leave, organise, fight back.”

Updated

The shadow foreign secretary, Lisa Nandy, said Jeremy Corbyn would have the chance to put forward “his side of the story” during the investigation into his comments about antisemitism following his suspension from the party.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, she said:

The party has taken the decision to suspend Jeremy and it is important to note that that is a decision taken by the Labour party and not by the leader’s office, as per the recommendation in the EHRC report that the leader should not interfere in these decisions.

What will then happen is that Jeremy will be investigated, the circumstances of his suspension will be investigated, the comments that were made, and he will be given an opportunity as part of that process to put forward his side of the story.

There is no suggestion of guilt before a decision is made but that will be investigated robustly and as transparently as possible.

Updated

A powerful front page for tomorrow’s edition of the Jewish News.

The Jewish News responds to the EHRC report on Labour antisemitism and Jeremy Corbyn’s suspension in their 30 October front page.
The Jewish News responds to the EHRC report on Labour antisemitism and Jeremy Corbyn’s suspension in its 30 October front page. Photograph: Jewish News

Updated

There’s growing anger among the unions: Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communications Workers Union, said the decision to suspend Corbyn was “fundamentally wrong and needs to change”.

“The EHRC report is a serious and detailed document everyone in the Party should read and understand Keir Starmer’s political decision to suspend Jeremy Corbyn – a lifelong anti-racist campaigner – flies in the face of the report,” he tweeted.

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn urges Labour supporters to 'stay in the party' and fight

Jeremy Corbyn has urged his Labour supporters to “stay in the party” to fight for leftwing principles following the decision to suspend him.

In a broadcast interview in Islington following the removal of the party whip in the wake of his reaction to today’s EHRC report, the former Labour leader called for calm and for members to “make the case” for leftwing values internally.

“Quite clearly the decision was made in a very quick way and I would just say, hang on a minute, let’s all keep a bit calm, let’s think again about this whole issue,” he said. “Our party comes together to fight racism and injustice but we also come together to bring about economic justice for the people of this country.”

“That is what unites our movement and our party and that is what I appeal to members to focus on. Don’t go away, don’t leave the party. Stay in the party and argue the case for economic and social justice in our society.”

During the interview, the MP refused to retract his earlier statements, saying the “public perception” about how many members were under investigation for anti-semitism was “very different” to the reality.

But he added: “I’ve explained what I said, I’ve explained what I meant by it. I’m not diminishing or minimising the issue of antisemitism. It is serious, it is real, it does exist. I’ve explained what the statement was designed to say, simply the size of the issue. But one antisemite is one too many and I’ve made that clear to everyone in the party.”

Updated

Summary

Updated

Financial support is coming in to the crowdfunder set up after reports that Jeremy Corbyn faced being sued by Panorama presenter John Ware, tweets Kate Proctor, the political editor of Politics Home.

The Labour party apologised “unreservedly” earlier this year and paid out a six-figure sum to seven former employees and Ware, a veteran BBC journalist, admitting it defamed them in the aftermath of a Panorama investigation into its handling of antisemitism.

The settlement and formal apologies to both the reporter, John Ware, and the ex-employees, which have been read in open court, is believed to have cost the Labour party around £600,000, with about £180,000 in damages agreed for the eight individuals.

But Corbyn said he was disappointed by the settlement, calling it a “political decision” and said it “risks giving credibility to misleading and inaccurate allegations about action taken to tackle antisemitism in the Labour party in recent years”.

Updated

Keir Starmer says he 'fully supports' move to suspend Jeremy Corbyn

The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has been speaking again to the media, saying that he fully supports Jeremy Corbyn’s suspension.

“I made it clear that we would not support antisemitism or the denial of antisemitism through the suggestion that it is exaggerated or factional and that is why I was disappointed by Jeremy Corbyn’s response and that is why appropriate action has been taken, which I fully support,” he said in a broadcast interview.

It was important that he did not interfere in any investigation which Labour had undertaken, he added, but it would “look into” the statement made this morning by his predecessor.

Updated

Momentum describes Corbyn suspension as 'massive attack on the left'

The Labour suspension of Jeremy Corbyn was described by the grassroots campaign group Momentum as “a massive attack on the left” by the party’s new leadership.

Momentum, which was set set up in 2015 to support the leftwing of the Labour party under the leadership of Corbyn, said the suspension should be immediately lifted in the interests of party unity.

The EHRC report is a reminder that whatever the values and history of the Labour party, Momentum said in a statement, adding that the party “can and must do better”.

“We must also make sure that over the coming weeks, this important report is not mis-used factionally. The overwhelming majority of socialists in the Labour party are motivated by the prospect of a better world, and many have spent their lives fighting against antisemitism and racism in their communities and on the streets.”

However, on Twitter it was deeply critical of the Corbyn suspension:

Updated

Today’s response by the Labour party “marks an important milestone in eliminating the scourge of hatred and antisemitism from a historic and important party in Britain,” according to a former leader of the Israeli Labor party, which cut ties with Jeremy Corbyn in 2018.

Isaac Herzog, who is now chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, issued a statement under the banner of the organisation, which acts as a link to Israel for Jewish people around the world.

He was particularly critical of Jeremy Corbyn, recalling that he had invited the then UK Labour leader to visit Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, “in order to learn more about the Holocaust and its lessons”.

I emphasised to him the importance of such a visit for the chairman of a leading party in Britain. He never responded to me. Nor did he respond to my appeal to him, as chairman of The Jewish Agency, to eradicate his party of antisemitism. The lack of his responsiveness was glaring.

Today’s decision by the UK Labour party marks an important milestone in eliminating the scourge of hatred and antisemitism from a historic and important party in Britain. The Labour party is setting an example to the entire world in removing antisemitism from the political game.

Corbyn cited diary difficulties as the reason for declined the invitation to Yad Vashem, the Guardian reported in 2018.

Updated

The Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs has issued a statement on Twitter saying it firmly opposes the decision to suspend Jeremy Corbyn from the Labour party.

“We will work tirelessly for his reinstatement,” added the statement by the group, which is made up of MPs on the left of the parliamentary party.

Founded by Tony Benn nearly 40 years ago, it supported Rebecca Long-Bailey’s campaign to become Labour leader during the contest earlier this year and counts more than 30 Labour serving MPs in its membership.

Updated

Today’s EHRC report is tougher than expected, according to the Labour MP Margaret Hodge, who has written a piece for the Guardian.

For those who were the targets of the relentless abuse as antisemitism spread in the Labour Party, she writes, it was “a dreadful, lonely and frightening period of our lives”.

In her nearly 60 years of membership of the Labour party she had lived through many ups and downs, but none as debilitating and horrible as the time spent battling antisemitism within the party.

The torrent of abuse was gruesome, especially after each time I openly challenged the racism in my party. People often tie together my Jewish identity with the fact that I am a woman.

So I am regularly accused of being a Zionist pig, a Tory hag, a racist shill or being a dizzy old bint who should be executed by Hezbollah.

Hodge, who joined others at a press conference given by the Jewish Labour Movement earlier today, said the “tragic legacy” of Jeremy Corbyn’s tenure as Labour leader was that it meant energy which could have been channelled into fighting the Conservatives and striving for a Labour government was lost.

“He alienated Jews, he failed the Labour party, and he let down the country,” she concluded.

Labour Party MP Margaret Hodge attends a press conference of the Jewish Labour Movement at the offices of law firm Mishcon de Reya in London on October 29, 2020.
Labour MP Margaret Hodge attends a press conference of the Jewish Labour Movement at the offices of law firm Mishcon de Reya in London on Thursday. Photograph: Ian Vogler/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

The Labour MP and mayor of the Sheffield City Region, Dan Jarvis, has said there is “no place in Labour for antisemites or their apologists”.

Andrew Adonis, the Labour peer who called today for Jeremy Corbyn to leave parliament after the EHRC report was published, meanwhile likened Keir Starmer’s handling of the issue to Neil Kinnock’s expulsion of the Militant Tendency from Labour.

Updated

The former Labour leader hasn’t always welcomed the presence of the media on his doorstep but the Guardian’s deputy political editor, Jessica Elgot, has this on how a photographer was more informative than the Labour party headquarters:

Meanwhile, PA Media has reports that resignations from the Labour party in protest at Corbyn’s suspension have started. A member of 10 years has left in protest at the move, describing it as an “abysmal decision”.

“The facts, as far as I see them, are that Jeremy Corbyn has shown a lifelong distaste for racism of any bent,” said Andrew Cassidy, 44, from near Glasgow.

“Being pro-Palestinian is conflated as anti-Semitism, both by the mainstream media and, now, by Labour Party grandees,” Cassidy claimed.

“I am proud to be anti-racist. I am proud of my socialist ideals and believe that only a culture of zero tolerance to racism of any stripe is an achievable goal. Sadly, a good man has been hung out to dry in order to distance Starmer’s Labour from the progressive, inclusive party that Corbyn aimed for.”

Updated

The Conservatives are pulling out the stops on social media to draw attention to Keir Starmer’s past support for Jeremy Corbyn, though not everyone (including Labour critics) are convinced of the attack line’s potency. Here’s the former Ukip MEP – now SDP member – Patrick O’Flynn on a Tory Gif:

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn will contest 'political intervention' to suspend him

Jeremy Corbyn has issued a new statement on Facebook to say that he will “strongly contest the political intervention” to suspend him.

“I’ve made absolutely clear that those who deny there has been an antisemitism problem in the Labour party are wrong,” added the former Labour leader in the latest of his statements on Facebook today.

“It’s also undeniable that a false impression has been created of the number of members accused of antisemitism, as polling shows: that is what has been overstated, not the seriousness of the problem.”

“I will continue to support a zero tolerance policy towards all forms of racism. And I urge all members to stay calm and focused - while this problem is resolved amicably, as I believe it will be - to defeat this awful government, which is further impoverishing the poorest in our society.”

My colleague Peter Walker makes the point on Twitter that this indicates Corbyn’s likely defence – “he’s not downplaying the seriousness of antisemitism in Labour, just arguing that the number of cases had been misreported, and thus exaggerated”

Updated

Constituency Labour parties have been warned by the party’s general secretary not to “question the competence” of the Equality and Human Rights Commission or reject its report, reports Labour List, the Labour-supporting website funded by unions and others.

Labour List’s editor, Sienna Rodgers, writes that David Evans – who was appointed as the party’s general secretary under Keir Starmer’s leadership – wrote to local party chairs and secretaries.

Evans wrote:

We accept the commission’s report in full and we will implement all of the recommendations in full. But, we must go further. We need to change the Labour party’s culture, and that must start straight away.

He also gave instructions to constituency Labour parties that their social media accounts must not be used to comment on the investigation or the report.

Rodgers also has this on the Labour media strategy put in place ahead of today’s EHRC report.

Updated

Three members of Labour’s Socialist Campaign Group, which has counted Jeremy Corbyn in its ranks, say they are currently leaning against resigning the whip in solidarity with Jeremy Corbyn, according to Gabriel Pogrund of the Sunday Times.

He tweets that one of them has said that nothing has been agreed or confirmed yet, with resignations still an option.

Support for the former Labour leader is meanwhile also coming from the Morning Star.

Updated

Corbyn suspension 'profoundly wrong' – John McDonnell

The former shadow chancellor John McDonnell has described the suspension of Jeremy Corbyn as “profoundly wrong” on Twitter as he urged party members to “stay calm” as the best way to support Labour’s former leader.

“On the day we should all be moving forward & taking all steps to fight anti-Semitism, the suspension of Jeremy Corbyn is profoundly wrong,” he tweeted.

“In interests of party unity let’s find a way of undoing & resolving this.”

Updated

While the Conservatives have been seeking to heap more pressure on Labour – five tweets in an hour from the party co-chair, Amanda Milling, directed at Keir Starmer’s handling of and response to the EHRC inquiry – Tory figures are being reminded of their o party’s record on Islamophobia

Almost half of Conservative party members believe Islam “a threat to the British way of life”, according to a poll last month, which has reignited concerns over Islamophobia within Britain’s ruling party.

The party was accused last year of ignoring systematic Islamophobia in their ranks after Boris Johnson broke his promise to hold an inquiry specifically into the issue and announced a broad-brush review of how the party handles discrimination complaints instead.

Updated

The Corbyn suspension has prompted some pub-quiz-style discussions about the precedent it sets for his constituency

Updated

Labour whistleblowers were offered security

More than 70 whistleblowers consisting of current or former Labour staff, MPs and officials submitted testimony on antisemitism to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, as part of a coordinated effort by two Jewish Labour councillors who say the process has left them traumatised.

The Guardian can reveal that two of the whistleblowers were offered physical security, guidance against potential cyber-attacks, legal advice and counselling as part of a concerted effort to collect widespread evidence of antisemitism across the party.

The two councillors from the Jewish Labour Movement received 800 pieces of submitted evidence from Labour members of their experiences in the party, which included posters of Donald Trump being left on members’ lawns and threats of violence.

Both Adam Langleben, a former Labour councillor in Barnet, north London, and Peter Mason, who remains a councillor in Ealing, west London, say the experience of submitting evidence to the EHRC cost them their mental wellbeing.

Peter Mason, left, and Adam Langleben. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian
Peter Mason, left, and Adam Langleben. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, who was promoted to the shadow cabinet under Corbyn, said the former party leader had “an absolute blind spot” on appreciating the scale of the problem.

Asked by BBC Radio 4 about Corbyn’s suspension, she said: “I’m devastated that it’s come to this. Today should be about really listening, reading and taking in the report.”

She rejected the idea that the issue had been exaggerated for partisan reasons, saying people should read the EHRC report: “I think that brings shame on us, and there’s no mitigation of that, and we have to acknowledge that and do something about it.”

Asked about Corbyn’s response, she said: “I’m deeply, deeply upset by the circumstances, and upset that Jeremy wasn’t able to see the pain that the Jewish community have gone through.

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

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn said he will “strongly contest the political intervention to suspend me” from the party.

Updated

Some using it as an opportunity for a bit of light humour.

Former MP Gavin Shuker, who was one of seven MPs to leave the Labour party in 2019 in protest at Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, tweeted: “Someone should tell Mr Corbyn that sitting as an independent isn’t all that bad.”

Updated

The full report from my colleague, Jessica Elgot, the Guardian’s deputy political editor.

Updated

Marie van der Zyl, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, also welcomed the Corbyn’s suspension from the Labour party.

She said: “We welcome the decision of the Labour party to suspend Jeremy Corbyn.

“Having presided over the descent of a proudly anti-racist party into a party that broke equalities law in its treatment of Jews, his shameless comments today showed that he remains part of the problem and is an obstruction to the resolution of the issue.”

When Van Der Zyl assumed presidency of the organisation in 2018 she pledged that under her leadership the Board of Deputies would continue to press Jeremy Corbyn to take more action against antisemitism in the party.

Van der Zyl said: “Enough is enough and we now need to see actions and not words … which include a swift action in relation to the outstanding disciplinary cases … There’s Ken Livingstone and there’s also the case of Jackie Walker. We are expecting and hoping that that will be resolved by the end of July.”

She said the Board of Deputies would continue to protest and demand inquiries and debates in parliament if no further action was taken.

Updated

Reaction from Jewish Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge

Labour MP Harriet Harman said Corbyn’s suspension is “the right thing to do”.

“If you say that AS [antisemitism] exaggerated for factional reasons you minimise it & are, as Keir-Starmer says, part of the problem.”

Corbyn has been suspended from the party after the human rights watchdog found it broke equality law in its handling of antisemitism.

A damning report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission found the party was responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination.

Corbyn rejected some of the report’s findings and claimed the issue had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons” by his critics.

His comments prompted the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, to take decisive action against his predecessor.

Starmer told reporters: “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 antisemitism 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.”

Starmer said the findings of the EHRC investigation marked a “day of shame” for Labour and he was “truly sorry” for the pain caused.

Corbyn denied he was “part of the problem” and told broadcasters he would not quit Labour: “Of course not. I am proud to be a member of the Labour party, I joined the Labour party when I was 16, I’ve fought racism all my life, and I’ll fight racism for the rest of my life.”

A Labour party spokesman said: “In light of his comments made today and his failure to retract them subsequently, the Labour party has suspended Jeremy Corbyn pending investigation.

“He has also had the whip removed from the parliamentary Labour party.”

Updated

Responding to the news Jeremy Corbyn has been suspended from the Labour party, the Conservative party co-chairman Amanda Milling tweeted: “Many will be asking themselves why it took this long to act.

“This morning [Sir Keir Starmer] failed to say seven times that he would take action against Corbyn and now he has been pushed to do so. Hardly leadership.”

Updated

Labour suspends Jeremy Corbyn

Labour has suspended former party leader Jeremy Corbyn over his response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s report into antisemitism in the party during his leadership.

A Labour party spokesman said: “In light of his comments made today and his failure to retract them subsequently, the Labour Party has suspended Jeremy Corbyn pending investigation.

“He has also had the whip removed from the parliamentary Labour party.”

Updated

Bit more from Robert Peston

Jeremy Corbyn suspended from the Labour party

News just in: Jeremy Corbyn has been suspended from the Labour party. More to follow shortly

Updated

The Labour mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said the EHRC report marked “a dark day” for the party.

“It’s utterly shameful that, rather than being an ally and defending the Jewish community, the Labour party not only failed to address antisemitism within the party, but oversaw unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination,” he said in a statement posted to Twitter.

“I welcome Keir Starmer’s swift and strong response to the EHRC report, as well as the action he’s already taken as leader to root out antisemitism.

“I will do everything I can to work with the new leadership of the Labour party to stamp out antisemitism and to bring an end to this appalling chapter in Labour’s history.”

Meanwhile, Labour MP Janet Daby, the shadow minister for faiths, women and equalities, also showed support for Starmer.

She tweeted: “Keir’s speech on the EHRC report this morning marked a turning point for our party.

“When he says he will have a ‘zero tolerance’ policy to antisemitism, he means it. I’ll do all I can as shadow minister for faiths to help make Labour a safe home for Jews again.”

Updated

Hi, I’ll be updating the blog for the next hour whilst Ben has a well-deserved break. Please send your stories and tips to nazia.parveen@theguardian.com or follow me on Twitter to send me a DM.

Jeremy Corbyn should be investigated - Luciana Berger

Jeremy Corbyn should now be subjected to an investigation by the Labour party, according to the former Labour MP Luciana Berger, who has been reacting to the EHRC report.

Berger left the Labour party in February 2019 over what she calls “a culture of bullying, bigotry and intimidation” and which left her in need of a police escort to the Labour party annual conference.

“These things happened in plain sight. They didn’t happen behind closed doors,” Berger told BBC Radio 5 Live, adding that there was “so much” that the former Labour leader “could have and should have done” to deal with antisemitic abuse when he was in charge.

Asked by BBC presenter Emma Barnett if she believed Corbyn himself was antisemitic, Berger replied: “I call a spade a spade. If someone themselves makes antisemitic comments. If someone themsleves shares platforms with antisemites they are antisemitic.”

The answer to Barnett’s question was “yes, absolutely”.

Jeremy Corbyn has denied being antisemitic and has said that he has worked tirelessly against all forms of racism.

Berger said that Keir Starmer had issued an apology to her on behalf of the Labour party when they spoke on the telephone last night. The last time she had spoken to him was in September 2018.

The Labour MP and shadow foreign secretary, Lisa Nandy, was subsequently pressed by BBC presenter Emma Barnett on whether Corbyn is “fit and proper” to remain a Labour MP.

Nandy said she was not going to come on the radio and “start pontificating” about random MPs. She stressed that she had repeatedly spoke about about the failure to tackle antisemitism and that there had been a failure of leadership.

The then Labour MP, Luciana Berger, returns to the conference centre in 2018 with her police security detail.
The then Labour MP, Luciana Berger, returns to the conference centre in 2018 with her police security detail. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn 'shamed the party' - Margaret Hodge

Jeremy Corbyn’s statement demonstrated that he was in “permanent denial” about the extent of antisemitism problem that emerged during his leadership according to the Labour MP Margaret Hodge.

Speaking at a press conference organised by the Jewish Labour Movement, Hodge was asked about the former Labour leader’s response to today’s EHRC report in which he said that the scale of the antisemitism problem was dramatically overstated.

“Even when the evidence is placed in front of him he fails really to understand the importance and severity of it. It happened on his watch. He shamed the party. He sat at the centre of a party that enabled antisemitism to spread from the fringes to the mainstream.”

Pressed on whether he should be remain in the party or face action after his statement, Hodge said she did not want to be diverted from the main challenges the party was facing.

“There is an absolutely entrenched cultural challenge and diverting it into somebody who is irrelevant in the Labour party today .. it just doesn’t matter. What matters are the commitments that Keir Starmer gave today. Jeremy is part of the past. I want to move on.”

In 2018 Labour ended its disciplinary action against Hodge, launched by the party after she called Corbyn “an antisemite and a racist” over his handling of Labour’s dispute with Jewish community leaders.

Hodge was informed that she was under investigation after confronting Corbyn in the House of Commons, shortly after the party introduced a new code of conduct on antisemitism that was criticised by several Jewish groups.

The code adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, but excluded several examples that Jewish groups had called for the party to accept in full.

Updated

Labour can restore its reputation by taking radical steps that go beyond the EHRC’s recommendations, a press conference by the Jewish Labour Movement has been told.

The group - which became one of two key complainants to the EHRC and is one of the Labour party’s oldest affiliates - said Jewish and other members of the Labour party had been subjected to abuse that passed criminal thresholds

“It will now be down to the Labour party leadership to set out how they intend to eradicate anti-Jewish racism from our party. This will be achieved in part by implementing the legally binding actions set out by the EHRC’s report in full and without delay.”

Updated

The Conservatives have been attacking Keir Starmer, zeroing in on his refusal to say whether he would expel his predecessor

Conservative co-chairman Amanda Milling tweeted: “I’ve just watched Keir Starmer’s press conference and it’s frankly shocking that he failed repeatedly to state he would act to expel Jeremy Corbyn.”

Starmer was pressed earlier on the fact that the EHRC found a specific example of the Labour leader’s office under his predecessor interfering in a complaint relating to comments by Jeremy Corbyn about a mural featuring antisemitic tropes.

Before referring to the mural, the EHRC report stated: “We have concluded that this practice of political interference was unlawful. The evidence shows that staff from the Leader of the Opposition’s Office (LOTO) were able to influence decisions on complaints, especially decisions on whether to suspend someone.

“Sometimes these decisions were made because of likely press interest rather than any clear formal criteria.”

Citing an example of such interference, from April 2018, it referred to Corbyn’s alleged support for the mural.

It said that in an email to the party’s governance and legal unit (GLU) responsible for handling complaints, LOTO staff said that the complaint should be dismissed, stating that: “The complaint itself seems to fall well below the threshold required for investigation and if so surely the decision to dismiss it can be taken now.”

The report said that LOTO staff “amended and approved the GLU’s written response to the complainant to include details on Jeremy Corbyn’s actions in relation to the mural.

“LOTO staff therefore directly interfered in the decision not to investigate in this case.”

In a Facebook post in 2012, Corbyn had offered his backing to Los Angeles-based street artist Mear One, whose mural, featuring several known antisemitic tropes, was due to be removed after complaints.

Mear One said on his Facebook page: “Tomorrow they want to buff my mural Freedom of Expression. London Calling, Public art.”

Corbyn replied: “Why? You are in good company. Rockerfeller [sic] destroyed Diego Viera’s [sic] mural because it includes a picture of Lenin.”

The then Labour MP Luciana Berger had raised the issue with Corbyn’s office after screenshots of the Facebook post emerged.

Corbyn’s office had subsequently released a statement in which he said: “I sincerely regret that I did not look more closely at the image I was commenting on, the contents of which are deeply disturbing and antisemitic.”

Updated

The Jewish Labour Movement - which became one of two key complainants to the EHRC - said blame for the “sordid, disgraceful chapter” in the party’s history “lies firmly with those who held positions of leadership”.

The JLM - A formal affiliate of the Labour party in the UK since 1920 - tweeted a statement in which it said:

Members have been subjected to persistent levels of abuse that passed criminal thresholds, whilst Jewish women members of parliament such as Luciana Berger and Dame Louise Ellman were left little choice but to resign under extreme duress.

Jewish Labour members, our friends and allies have far too often faced the perverse insinuation that we have ‘weaponised’ antisemitism by the very same individuals who have perpetrated it against us, with little if inadequate intervention by those who could have stopped it.

Updated

Starmer is asked if he would welcome people such as Luciana Berger, Ian Austin and others back into Labour.

“The test I have set for myself is effectively when they and others feel it is safe to return to the Labour party,”

“I can’t speak for them they will make their own decisions.”

He said he had spoke last night to Luciana Berger, the former MP for Liverpool Wavertree, who in February 2019 quit Labour over the party’s handling of antisemitism cases and its approach to Brexit alongside six other MPs to form fledgling political grouping Change UK.

Pressure continues to be kept up in other questions to Starmer, including from one journalists who asked Starmer what he would do with “Jeremy Corbyn and his henchmen”.

Starmer said there were no cases that should not be looked at. It was just the case that he was not going to pick out individual cases.

The briefing has wrapped up now after less than half an hour.

Updated

There’s a third question referring to Jeremy Corbyn, this time drawing Starmer’s attention to his predecessor’s response, in which he said that the scale of the antisemitism problem in Labour was “dramatically overstated”.

“I will look carefully at what Jeremy Corbyn has said,” Starmer replied.

“Those who deny there is a problem are part of the problem. Those who say it is exaggerated or factional are part of the problem.”

There’s a question from a reporter at the Jewish Telegraph, who says that investigations into Corbyn were blocked and asks if they would be revisited.

“We will look at all cases and part of the challenge has been to speed up those cases ... We will look at all those cases and ensure they are dealt with fairly.”

Updated

Starmer is asked for a second time whether Jeremy Corbyn should remain in the party.

He says that the report does not make individual findings about Jeremy Corbyn, before going on to answer another question about Covid-19. This is zipping along.

Keir Starmer: a 'day of shame' for the Labour party

The EHRC’s reports are stark and leave no room for equivocation, Keir Starmer has said in his first reaction to the release of the equality watchdog report.

“I found this report hard to read and it is a day of shame for the Labour party,” the party leader has said.

He’s currently speaking in a press conference, where he said he knew how hard the last few years had been for those who he said had been driven out of the Labour party.

“I hear you and I promise you Labour will act,” said Starmer, who said he would ensure that the leader, or deputy leader’s office, would have nothing to do with the process of complaints

In what appeared to be a reference to his predecessor - Starmer stressed the “I” - he said: “The Labour party I lead accepts this report.”

“If you are antisemitic you should be nowhere near this party and we will make sure you are not.”

There are still those who believe that the claims of antisemitism in the party who believed it was a “factional attack,” said Starmer, and they should be nowhere near it as well.

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn should have said sorry in his reaction to the EHRC report and accepted its findings, the former Labour MP Ruth Smeeth has said.

“But honestly this is no longer about him. We have to look towards how we can rebuild the Labour party,” she told the BBC, adding that it was important to ensure that the party could become a home for British Jews again.

Asked if Corbyn should continue to be a member, she said it was a matter for the current leadership.

Updated

The Guardian’s deputy poltical editor, Jessica Elgot, has been attending an EHRC briefing on its report

Formal complaints against Corbyn and other MPs submitted to Labour

Formal complaints against Jeremy Corbyn and more than a dozen other Labour MPs have been submitted to the party in response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s report on antisemitism.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism said Keir Starmer must implement reforms and hold its members to account. “To that end, we have submitted complaints against Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and 15 other sitting MPs, and have given Labour six months to conduct transparent investigations and finally deliver justice for the Jewish community,” it said.

Gideon Falter, chief executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said the report was groundbreaking in its finding of unlawful acts.

“The EHRC’s report utterly vindicates Britain’s Jews, who were accused of lying and exaggerating, acting as agents of another country and using their religion to ‘smear’ the Labour party. In an unprecedented finding, it concludes that those who made such accusations broke the law and were responsible for illegal discrimination and harassment.

“The debate is over. Under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, the Labour party became institutionally antisemitic.....

“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.”

Updated

Labour given until 10 December to draft an action plan

Labour has been given until 10 December to draft an action plan to implement the report’s recommendations, which is legally enforceable by the courts if not fulfilled.

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

Other recommendations made by the watchdog include commissioning an independent process to handle antisemitism complaints and acknowledging the effect political interference has had and implementing clear rules to stop it happening again.

We’re about to hear Labour leader Keir Starmer’s formal response

Updated

Corbyn also said while he did not accept all of the EHRC findings, he trusted its recommendations.

“One anti-Semite is one too many, but the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media. That combination hurt Jewish people and must never be repeated.

“My sincere hope is that relations with Jewish communities can be rebuilt and those fears overcome. While I do not accept all of its findings, I trust its recommendations will be swiftly implemented to help move on from this period.”

Jeremy Corbyn responds to report

The former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has responded to the report’s publication by saying that he did not accept all of the EHRC’s findings and added that the scale of the antisemitism problem in Labour was “dramatically overstated” for political reasons.

In a statement posted on Facebook, he said: “Anti-Semitism is absolutely abhorrent, wrong and responsible for some of humanity’s greatest crimes. As Leader of the Labour Party I was always determined to eliminate all forms of racism and root out the cancer of anti-Semitism. I have campaigned in support of Jewish people and communities my entire life and I will continue to do so.

Corbyn added that the report showed that when he 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, he said, but from 2018, Jennie Formby [who served as general secretary of party from 2018 to May 2020] and a new governing executive that supported his leadership made substantial improvements, making it much easier and swifter to remove anti-Semites.

“My team acted to speed up, not hinder the process,” said Corbyn.

“Anyone claiming there is no anti-Semitism in the Labour Party is wrong. Of course there is, as there is throughout society, and sometimes it is voiced by people who think of themselves as on the left.

“Jewish members of our party and the wider community were right to expect us to deal with it, and I regret that it took longer to deliver that change than it should.”

Updated

EHRC report a 'damning verdict', says Board of Deputies of British Jews

The leaders of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council and the Community Security Trust have described the report as a “damning verdict” on what Labour did to Jews under Jeremy Corbyn and his allies.

“It proves why British Jews were so distressed and it disgraces those who attacked us for speaking out against anti-Jewish racism,” the statement said.

“Our Jewish community never wanted this fight, but we had to defend ourselves and are proud to have done so. We thank all those who stood with us, despite the abuse they received as a result.

“Jeremy Corbyn will rightly be blamed for what he has done to Jews and Labour, but the truth is more disturbing, as he was little more than a figurehead for old and new anti-Jewish attitudes. All of this was enabled by those who deliberately turned a blind eye.

“Now, the task of cleaning out the problem lies with the current leadership. We welcome the start that Keir Starmer has made, but the scale of the challenge that lies ahead should not be underestimated.”

The bodies pledged to continue to give their support “to all who work to drive racism out of our politics and out of our society”.

Updated

Ken Livingstone comments cited in EHRC report

Two Labour figures, former London mayor Ken Livingtone and a councillor, Pam Bromley, are named in the report and are key to its finding that the party engaged in harassment

It says that the party “through its agents” committed harassment against its members in relation to Jewish ethnicity in the case of Livingstone and Bromley. This took the form of suggesting that complaints of antisemitism are fake or smears. An example was given in relation to the former Labour mayor:

Ken Livingstone

In media interviews in April 2016 when Livingstone was on Labour’s national executive committee (NEC), he made reference to social media posts made by Naz Shah MP.

Naz Shah’s posts had included a graphic suggesting that Israel should be relocated to the United States, with the comment “problem solved”, and a post in which she appeared to liken Israeli policies to those of Hitler. She apologised for her comments in parliament and conceded that they caused “upset and hurt to the Jewish community”.

But Livingstone repeatedly denied that these posts were antisemitic and sought to minimise their offensive nature. In his denial, he went on to allege that scrutiny of Shah’s conduct was part of a smear campaign by “the Israel lobby” to stigmatise critics of Israel as antisemitic, and was intended to undermine and disrupt the Corbyn leadership.

The EHRC had taken Livingstone’s right to freedom of expression into account, and he was not protected by it.

Ken Livingstone speaks leaves Milbank Studios on 28 April 2016, at a time when he had been suspended from Labour party for comments made while defending comments made by Naz Shah, a Labour MP.
Ken Livingstone speaks leaves Milbank Studios on 28 April 2016, at a time when he had been suspended from Labour party for comments made while defending comments made by Naz Shah, a Labour MP. Photograph: Rob Stothard/Getty Images

Pam Bromley

Another way in which harassment was committed against Labour members in relation to Jewish ethnicity was by the use of antisemitic tropes. This was the use of written or verbal phrases or images that suggest antisemitic ideas or stereotypes. An example was given in relation to Bromley, then a Labour party councillor for Rossendale borough council in Lancashire, and who is now an independent.

She posted on Facebook: “Had Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party pulled up the drawbridge and nipped the bogus AS [antisemitism] accusations in the bud in the first place we would not be where we are now and the fifth column in the LP [Labour Party] would not have managed to get such a foothold ... the Lobby has miscalculated ... The witch hunt has created brand new fightback networks ... The Lobby will then melt back into its own cesspit.”

Updated

The full Equality and Human Rights Commission report is online here.

The EHRC’s interim chair writes in its foreword that the report is being published during a time like no other in recent memory.

She adds:

Politicians have been asked to show leadership to steer the country out of an unprecedented crisis, and we are being asked to put our trust in them to do so.

Trust should be at the heart of a political party’s relationship with its members, and with the wider general public; yet what this investigation has shown is a clear breakdown of trust between the Labour party, many of its members and the Jewish community.

Updated

The equalities watchdog found evidence of political interference in the complaints process, with 23 instances of inappropriate involvement by the leader of the opposition’s office (LOTO) and others in the 70 files looked at.

It said this included LOTO staff influencing decisions on complaints, especially decisions on suspensions or to investigate a claim. Some decisions were made because of likely press interest rather than any formal criteria.

In what appears to be a particularly serious finding, the EHRC said:

The Labour party adopted a practice of political interference in certain complaints and the evidence indicates that it occurred more regularly in antisemitism cases.

The EHRC has found this to be indirectly discriminatory and unlawful, adding that the practice puts the person making a complaint of antisemitism at a disadvantage as they could face different and detrimental treatment and a risk that their complaint would not be handled fairly.

A transparent and independent antisemitism complaints process, where all cases of alleged discrimination, harassment or victimisation are investigated promptly, rigorously and without interference is an essential part of the reforms needed to rebuild trust.

Updated

Caroline Waters, the interim chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said the body’s investigation had highlighted “multiple areas” where Labour’s approach to, and leadership in, tackling antisemitism was insufficient.

“This is inexcusable and appeared to be a result of a lack of willingness to tackle antisemitism rather than an inability to do so,” she said.

“It is encouraging to see the party’s new leadership has committed to implementing our recommendations in full. If the party truly wants to rebuild trust with its members and the Jewish community, it must acknowledge the impact that numerous investigations and years of failure to tackle antisemitism has had on Jewish people, and take swift, sincere action to improve.”

Waters went on to say that “politicians on all sides” have a responsibility to set standards for public life and to lead the way in challenging racism in all its forms.

“There have been recent examples of behaviour from politicians of various parties that fall well below the standards we would expect,” she added.

“While freedom of expression is essential to proper political debate, politicians must recognise the power of their language to sow division. Our recommendations provide a foundation for leaders to make sure that they adhere to equality law and demonstrate their commitment to diversity and inclusion through their words and actions.”

Labour has tweeted a link where Keir Starmer will be responding:

Updated

Labour responsible for unlawful acts of discrimination and harassment - EHRC

An investigation into the Labour party by the equalities watchdog has found it was responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination.

The party is responsible for three breaches of the Equality Act (2010) relating to:

  • Political interference in antisemitism complaints.
  • Failure to provide adequate training to those handling antisemitism complaints.
  • Harassment.

A report published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission identified what it described as “serious failings in the Labour party leadership in addressing antisemitism and an inadequate process for handling antisemitism complaints”.

The EHRC said its analysis “points to a culture within the party which, at best, did not do enough to prevent antisemitism and, at worst, could be seen to accept it”.

This is in direct contrast to the comprehensive guidance and training in place to handle sexual harassment complaints that demonstrates the party’s ability to act decisively when it needs to, indicating that antisemitism could have been tackled more effectively.

Updated

A key finding of the report, whether Labour has broken equalities laws, will hinge on the experience of Jewish members within the party.

The EHRC has sought evidence on the experience of Jewish members in the party.

It’s worth noting that Labour has already settled in court with whistleblowers who spoke to the BBC about antisemitism and said they were then defamed by statements from party spokespeople.

That move has threatened to plunge the party back into conflict, with Jeremy Corbyn condemning Keir Starmer’s decision to settle the case.

The party apologised “unreservedly” and paid a six-figure sum to seven former employees and a veteran BBC journalist, admitting it defamed them in the aftermath of a Panorama investigation into its handling of antisemitism.

The settlement and formal apologies to both the reporter, John Ware, and the ex-employees, which have been read in open court, is believed to have cost the Labour party around £600,000, with about £180,000 in damages agreed for the eight individuals.

Corbyn said he was disappointed by the settlement brokered under Starmer, calling it a “political decision” against legal advice. He said the decision “risks giving credibility to misleading and inaccurate allegations about action taken to tackle antisemitism in the Labour party in recent years”.

Updated

The former foreign secretary, and one-time Labour leadership contender, David Miliband has said that the way Jeremy Corbyn dealt with the situation in the Labour party was “appalling” and described the period as a “dreadful, dark, shameful period”.

He told Times Radio: “I’m not going to claim I know what’s in Jeremy Corbyn’s heart.

“What I’m clear about is that he failed to deal with this issue in a way that was appalling in all its aspects. Whether it be cartoons or statements, they reflected a complete blindness to the issue and to the importance of it.

“It’s a dreadful, dark, shameful period and the failure to be clear, the failure to be decisive, the failure to say that anyone who is an antisemite isn’t welcome in the Labour party, the failure to clear that out is a source of shame for me as someone who’s still a member of the Labour party.”

Updated

Other people anticipating the report include Owen Jones, the Guardian columnist and Labour campaigner, who tweets:

Nick Lowles, of the anti-racist organisation Hope not Hate, has tweeted a link to a piece he wrote last year on Labour and antisemitism, in which he said:

Labour’s day of reckoning over antisemitism is approaching fast, with the publication sometime early next year of the EHRC report. We will leave it to them to decide whether the Labour party is institutionally antisemitic, but the very fact that the party is being investigated, with the only other party ever having been investigated being the BNP, should be shame enough.

Updated

Dame Louise Ellman, the former MP who quit Labour over Jeremy Corbyn’s handling of antisemitism, said this morning that she wants the former party leadership to be “made irrelevant”.

Ahead of the publication of the EHRC report into the party, she told Radio 4’s Today programme that Labour was “not there yet” under new leader, Sir Keir Starmer.

She said: “I would like to see changes so the people who were responsible at a leadership level for creating this dreadful situation are made irrelevant.

“That’s what I would like to see. A party that they would no longer want to be in, that they feel uncomfortable in.”

Ellman has also written a piece for the Times (paywall) in which she states that she was driven out by “ugly antisemitism that became normalised with the entry of the far-left following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader.”

Updated

The EHRC is not expected to make direct recommendations that disciplinary action should be taken against high-profile individuals such as Corbyn. But sources close to the inquiry said an earlier draft report found evidence of indirect discrimination in the operation of the party’s processes, which would be a breach of equalities law.

However, there are understood to have been multiple challenges to the draft report and the EHRC’s final conclusions have been kept under wraps.

Starmer is likely to accept all of the report’s recommendations, though a legal challenge to the EHRC’s findings is planned by Jewish supporters of Corbyn if they disagree with its conclusions.

Equalities watchdog report awaited

Good morning and welcome to UK politics live, where we will be covering the publication of the report by the equalities watchdog into allegations of antisemitism in the Labour party, and the resulting reaction.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) report is set to recommend an independent complaints system when the findings of its long-awaited inquiry are published later this morning.

As well as opening another, the inquiry’s conclusion will close one painful chapter in Labour’s history under Jeremy Corbyn, when it was accused of institutional antisemitism and MPs resigned amid recriminations over toxic factionalism within the party HQ.

Both Corbyn and his successor, Keir Starmer, are expected to set out their reactions to the findings later today.

We will bring you full coverage of those events, and more. Here are some expected timings:

• 10am: The EHRC will publish its 100-plus-page report online, while lead investigator Alasdair Henderson will brief the media.

• 11am: Labour leader Keir Starmer holds a press conference via Zoom, which can be watched here. He has already said the party will accept all the recommendations of the report, which the shadow health secretary, Jon Ashworth, has called the most shameful moment in the party’s history.

• 11am: Jeremy Corbyn is expected to release a written statement.

• Midday: The Jewish Labour Movement, which became one of two key complainants to the EHRC, will hold a press conference.

The Guardian’s deputy political editor, Jessica Elgot, has put together an explainer in advance of the report’s publication.

Updated

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