Labour no longer being monitored by equalities watchdog after antisemitism reforms
The Labour Party had become “an incubator for this poison” of antisemitism under its former leadership, Sir Keir Starmer has said – as he vowed that the changes made to ensure “zero tolerance” are “permanent”.
The Labour leader’s party is no longer being monitored by the equalities watchdog after making the changes demanded over its law-breaking handling of antisemitism under Sir Keir’s predecessor Jeremy Corbyn.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) had been scrutinising the party since ruling it was responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination more than two years ago.
But the watchdog has said that, under Sir Keir’s leadership, the party has improved its complaints and training procedures to protect current and future party members.
Sir Keir said the judgment that the necessary reforms have been made was an “important moment in the history of the Labour Party”.
Writing for The Times newspaper, the Labour leader described antisemitism as “an evil”, adding: “Indeed, it can be those who call themselves ‘anti-racist’ who are most blind to it.”
The EHRC’s report into the Labour Party was published in October 2020 and detailed the “breakdown of trust between the party, its Jewish members and the wider Jewish community”.
Describing the investigation as “a humbling and painful experience” for his party, Sir Keir reflected on his decision to accept the EHRC’s report in full and create a “zero-tolerance of antisemitism”, adding: “We also had to be clear that anyone who did not accept those findings had no place in the party.”
The EHRC’s report was critical of the party’s handling of antisemitism complaints under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
Immediately after its publication, Mr Corbyn claimed “the scale of the problem” of Labour antisemitism allegations was “dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents”.
He also said he did not accept all of the EHRC report’s findings in comments that prompted his suspension from the party.
Mr Corbyn remains a party member but now sits as an independent MP.
Sir Keir’s predecessor subsequently sought to clarify his remarks and a five-member disciplinary panel of Labour’s National Executive Committee decided that he should be reinstated.
But Sir Keir stuck to his decision after facing pressure from angry MPs not to allow Mr Corbyn back into the parliamentary party.
Despite the end of the probe into the party by the EHRC, the Labour leader wrote in The Times that he is “under no illusion that the job is done”.
“This is not a moment to celebrate. Instead, it is a moment of reflection; a time to apologise once again,” he said.
“Ultimately, our success will be judged not by me or by the EHRC or by how much effort we put in, but by whether those who were so badly let down feel ready to call Labour their party again.”
‘Nobody is forcing you to stay’
The Labour Party has implemented a programme of change since the report was published in 2020.
It includes clearing the backlog of antisemitism complaints, transforming the party’s complaints handling processes and ensuring two independent complaints boards have been fully operational since April 2022.
It also includes terminating the membership of hundreds of individuals who expressed a desire to “campaign against the recommendations of the EHRC report”.
Sir Keir said: “The changes we have made aren’t just fiddling around the edges or temporary fixes. They are permanent, fundamental, irrevocable.
“The Labour Party I lead today is unrecognisable from 2019.
“There are those who don’t like that change, who still refuse to see the reality of what had gone on under the previous leadership. To them I say in all candour: we are never going back.
“If you don’t like it, nobody is forcing you to stay.”
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Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) national secretary Adam Langleben said: “We welcome the EHRC giving Labour a clean bill of health.”
Mr Langleben said the Labour Party was in “moral turpitude and political denial” in 2019, adding: “Under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, it had become an unsafe space for Jews.”
Mr Langleben said “the Labour Party we see today is unrecognisable from what the party had become under Corbyn”.
He continued: “Jews can once again call Labour their natural home and have no concerns about voting for it.
“That this is the case is a testament to the leadership shown by Keir Starmer.”
World
Director of one of last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza detained in Israeli military raid
The director of one of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza was arrested in a raid the Israeli military said was targeting a Hamas command centre.
The Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry said Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, was held by Israeli forces on Friday along with dozens of other staff and taken to an interrogation centre.
Sky News has spoken to patients who say they were forced outside and told to strip in winter weather after troops stormed the hospital.
Israel‘s military said it “conducted and completed a targeted operation” as the hospital was being used as a command centre for Hamas military operations.
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya. File pic
An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) statement said more than 240 terrorists were detained, some of whom tried to pose as patients or flee using ambulances.
Among those taken for questioning are the hospital’s director, who it said was suspected of being a “Hamas terrorist operative”.
Around 15 people involved in last year’s 7 October attack on southern Israel, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 250 others abducted, were also detained, the IDF said.
The Israeli military said hundreds of patients and staff were evacuated to another hospital before and during the operation, and it had provided fuel and medical supplies to both hospitals.
Militants fired on its forces and they were “eliminated”, while weapons, including grenades, guns, munitions, and military equipment, were also seized in the raid, it said.
The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 45,400 Palestinians, over half of them women and children, and wounded more than 108,000 others, according to the health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The hospital has been hit multiple times over the past three months by Israeli troops waging an offensive in largely isolated northern Gaza against Hamas fighters it says have regrouped.
The health ministry said a strike on the hospital earlier this week killed five medical personnel.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was “appalled” by Friday’s raid, which it said put northern Gaza’s last major health facility “out of service”.
“The systematic dismantling of the health system and a siege for over 80 days… puts the lives of the 75,000 Palestinians remaining in the area at risk,” a statement said.
The Israeli military said in a statement: “The IDF will continue to act in accordance with international law regarding medical facilities, including those where Hamas has chosen to embed its military infrastructure and conduct terrorist activities in blatant violation of international law.”
Former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh has been cremated after a state funeral as politicians and the public mourned his death.
Widely regarded as the architect of the country’s economic reform programme, he died on Thursday aged 92.
His body was taken on Saturday morning to the headquarters of his Congress party in New Delhi, where party leaders and activists paid tribute to him and chanted: “Manmohan Singh lives forever.”
Former Indian PM Manmohan Singh pictured in 2014. File pic: AP
Abhishek Bishnoi, a party leader, said Mr Singh’s death was big loss for the country.
“He used to speak little, but his talent and his actions spoke louder than his words,” he said.
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Later, Mr Singh’s body was transported to a crematorium ground for his last rites as soldiers beat drums.
Government officials, politicians and family members paid their last respects to Mr Singh, whose casket was adorned with flowers and wrapped in the Indian flag.
Indian President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who called Mr Singh one of the country’s “most distinguished leaders”, attended the funeral ceremony.
Gursharan Kaur (right), wife of Mr Singh, attends his funeral. Pic: AP
Mr Singh’s body was then transferred to a pyre as religious hymns played and he was cremated.
Authorities have declared a seven-day mourning period and cancelled all cultural and entertainment events during that time.
Mr Singh was prime minister for 10 years and leader of the Congress party in parliament’s upper house.
He was chosen to be prime minister in 2004 by Sonia Gandhi, the widow of assassinated former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Mr Singh was re-elected in 2009, but his second term was clouded by financial scandals.
This led to the Congress party’s crushing defeat in the 2014 national elections by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
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