THE two Labour MPs earmarked for disciplinary action after criticising Jeremy Corbyn’s handling of the anti-Semitism crisis have savaged the party’s behaviour.
Dame Margaret Hodge, who learned on Monday that her case had been dropped, accused Labour of trying to purge Mr Corbyn’s critics at Westminster.
MP Ian Austin also accused Labour of "Kafkaesque" treatment, and released legal correspondence in which his solicitors called the party’s investigation into him “a farce and a disgrace”.
Ms Hodge, the MP for Barking, had called Mr Corbyn “an anti-Semite and a racist” to his face over his failure to get a grip on the party’s problem with anti-Jewish bigotry in the ranks.
Atter her case was dropped, she furiously denied that she had apologised for her remark, accusing Labour HQ of briefing the media that she had.
She also called on the party to drop its inquiry into Mr Austin, the MP for Dudley North.
She said “I have absolutely no doubt that there are those in the leadership who want to get rid, whether it is through deselection or disciplinary action, of any opposition.
“The new style of politics is bullying and intolerance, not gentle and inclusive.”
She said the treatment of Mr Austin was a case in point.
“There seems to be absolutely no reason for pursuing a similar action against Ian Austin. Arguing passionately for what you believe in should be encouraged and celebrated, not punished. That’s what Ian was quite properly doing and trying to close down the issue by disciplining him is tantamount to bullying.”
Mr Austin is being disciplined after accusing Mr Corbyn of "supporting and defending" extremists and anti-Semites.
His lawyers said Labour had “failed to observe the most rudimentary principles of natural justice, due process and transparency.”
Mr Corbyn has admitted his party is too slow in dealing with complaints about anti-Semitism by members.
Internal Labour files leaked to the Guardian last night suggested the party had a huge challenge getting through the paperwork on time.
Although around 70 cases are pending, papers for the ruling National Executive Committee said only a handful were processed because of time constraints.
- Herald View: Johnson has overstepped the mark
Examples of complaints included a member claiming the Israeli lobby had manufactured the anti-Semitism crisis, and a member linking Adolf Hitler and Zionism.
A Labour source said: “When cases are brought to our attention we are acting quickly and decisively, investigating all complaints and taking appropriate disciplinary action.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel