The Equalities and Human Rights Commission report on Labour
antisemitism has been sent to
the party, it was confirmed last night. As outlined
in an earlier
piece on the EHRC drafting process, the inquiry’s
conclusions are first sent to the Labour Party for review. Over
these 28 days, the party can make written representations on the
contents of the document, which is finalised by the EHRC and
published at the end of this period. Labour MPs and staffers have
been told by new general secretary not to comment on either
the arrival of the draft or the investigation itself.
The worry is that this leak-prone party could see the draft being
released early. But if all goes to plan, we should be reading the
EHRC report in early August. Labour’s task is then to prepare an
action plan, if the EHRC serves the party an ‘unlawful act
notice’, and to start implementing the recommendations. The
equalities watchdog has supervisory powers over such an action
plan, and the Labour leader will also be looking for the approval
of groups such as the Jewish Labour Movement and the Campaign
Against Antisemitism. Both are prepared to criticise , as JLM’s statement on
and the CAA’s recent
comments on his leadership have shown.
The Labour leader has already laid the groundwork for this
moment, by ensuring that he can reliably win votes on the ruling
body and by installing a new general secretary
