Institutional racism? The case of the Labour party
JVL Introduction
Is the Labour party institutionally antisemitic, as the JLM insisted when demanding an EHRC investigation?
This analysis – an extended Twitter thread on 22nd January this year, brought recently to our attention – makes it clear that the EHRC did not draw any conclusion about institutional racism of any kind as the Commission was simply not tasked with looking at it. It is not a concept that appears in the Equalities Act 2010 that set up the EHRC.
The concept derives, rather, from the MacPherson Report and the author goes back to apply its analysis of institutional racism to the Labour Party.
The author finds that the Party guilty of failing to implement the recommendations of the MacPherson Report to record complaints of racism for 20+ years – but guilty under Blair, Brown and Miliband and while Iain McNicol was General Secretary.
It was only after the appointment of Jennie Formby as General Secretary that Labour at last began to move on this issue: “The Labour Party was Institutionally Racist before Corbyn took over as leader, more progress was made to reverse that under Corbyn than any other leader ”
So Corbyn, rather than being the guilty party, was the first leader to take the issue seriously and to begin to deal with it.
This article was originally published by Twitter on Sat 22 Jan 2022. Read the original here.
The EHRC report, Labour, Institutional Racism & Institutional anti-Semitism
in 25 [actually 30!] tweets
1/🧵👇🏾
The EHRC categorically did not make the conclusion that Labour was Institutionally anti-Semitic as the report was NOT tasked with looking at Institutional Racism or Institutional anti-Semitism within Labour
p18 states terms of reference were stated in annex 6
2/🧵👇🏾
Institutional Racism is not covered in the Equalities Act 2010 but is taken from the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry written by Macpherson 1999 & according to the HoC Home Affairs Committee is considered still relevant today
3/🧵👇🏾
The Macpherson report p369 defines Institutional Racism thus
4/🧵👇🏾
Broken down the definition tells us
a)What it is
b)Who is implicated
c)How it manifests itself
5/🧵👇🏾
a) What it is
The ‘collective failure of an organisation’
so not just individual’s behaviour but the organisational response.
6/🧵👇🏾
b) Who is implicated
‘processes, attitudes & behaviours’
as individuals we are responsible for our attitudes & behaviours so we have individual liabilities,
also as individuals we design, create & implement the processes that can be impacted by our attitudes
7/🧵👇🏾
c)How it manifests itself
‘unwitting prejudice’
‘thoughtlessness’
‘racist stereotyping’
Who doesn’t have prejudices that you don’t realise are prejudices?
Who hasn’t ever been thoughtless? Who hasn’t ever used a racist stereotype they didn’t know was racist?
8/🧵👇🏾
How does this impact @UKLabour & @jeremycorbyn
in particular?
The leaked Labour Report demonstrates HQ was institutionally racist, it clearly states it disproves the idea anti-Semitism wasn’t a problem in the party or it was a ‘smear’ or ‘witch-hunt’
9/🧵👇🏾
The Leaked Labour Report lists a number of failings by Labour HQ & the Governance & Legal Unit, it shows they failed to investigate over 300 complaints of anti-Semitism some of which involved very serious examples of anti-Semitism
10/🧵👇🏾
The EHRC investigation looked at a very narrow time frame between 16 March 2016 and 28 May 2019 although it does make reference to some of Labour’s failings outside this time frame the Leaked Labour Report covers a more broad time frame.
11/🧵👇🏾
Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader in September 2015
7 months later 29th April 2016 he’d commissioned the Chakrabarti Report in to anti-Semitism & shortly after a report in to anti-Semitism at Oxford University both of which can be found within the link to the EHRC report
12/🧵👇🏾
On the 23rd of February 2018 General Secretary Iain McNicol stepped down
13/🧵👇🏾
Jennie Formby appointed General Secretary by Labour’s NEC 20 March 2018
14/🧵👇🏾
The EHRC report observed that 20+ years later @UKLabour hadn’t implemented Lawrence Inquiry recommendation to record complaints of anti-Semitism
NOT IN
1999 or Blair’s 8yrs following the Lawrence Inquiry
2007 & Brown’s 3yrs
2010 & Miliband’s 5yrs
2011 & GS McNicol’s 7yrs
15/🧵👇🏾
However according to the EHRC report Labour started to record anti-Semitism cases in 2018 & the Leaked Labour report shows it now ‘seeks to comply with the Macpherson principle’
McNicol left in February 2018
Formby was elected in March 2018
16/🧵👇🏾
The EHRC report was commissioned 28th May 2019 & specifically cites the resignation of ‘over 20 elected representatives’ who resigned between 2018-2019 as a result of Labour’s ‘inaction to tackle anti-Semitism’
17/🧵👇🏾
On the same page it acknowledges in 2016 Labour commissioned not one but TWO investigations in to anti-Semitism – the resigning officials didn’t feel compelled to resign whilst Blair, Brown, Miliband & McNicol failed to apply the Macpherson report
18/🧵👇🏾
For Corbyn to be personally accountable for Institutional anti-Semitism the failing staff need to have been employed by him – they weren’t.
The failing policies need to have been introduced by him – they weren’t
19/🧵👇🏾
For Corbyn to be personally responsible for Institutional anti-Semitism the report needs to be able to demonstrate that once Iain McNichol was removed things didn’t change for the better, it can’t.
20/🧵👇🏾
The Labour Party was Institutionally Racist before Corbyn took over as leader, more progress was made to reverse that under Corbyn than any other leader
21/🧵👇🏾
With holding vital evidence from the EHRC b’cos it will make Labour look bad is a form of IR [institutional racism]
22/🧵👇🏾
Despite it being pulled the EHRC have viewed the leaked Labour Report & made these comments
23/🧵👇🏾
24/🧵👇🏾
In short Labour weren’t investigated by the EHRC for Institutional anti-Semitism if it had been it would have been found guilty but Corbyn would not have been found responsible given the amount of changes he & Jennie Formby introduced in five years.
25/ 🧵👇🏾
Ways in which Labour continues to be Institutionally Racist the leader politically interferes in the discipline processes by re admitting Trevor Philips before the investigation is concluded something the EHRC report heavily criticised Labour for
26/ 🧵👇🏾
More political interference in the discipline process by withdrawing the whip after the NEC ruled Corbyn had broken no rules
27/ 🧵👇🏾
EHRC states political interference can be unlawful if it has a discriminatory impact on complaints
Corbyn has the whip removed for his response to the EHRC report Trevor Philips has his membership restored BEFORE disciplinary process for claims of Islamophobia concluded
28/ 🧵👇🏾
Jeremy Corbyn’s comments according to the EHRC are specifically protected
29/ One of the ways the EHRC identified Corbyn ‘unlawfully politically intervened’ was to reopen Chris Williamson’s case at the behest of the Board of Deputies
30/🧵👇🏾
an example of the Institutional anti-Semitism that continues unchecked in @UKLabour
As usual those of us who refute the allegations of “antisemitism” in the Labour Party are excreting too much effort. This article seems to allege that there has always been a issue with antisemitism in the Labour Party and that only the noble Corbyn took this seriously.
This is as much a fiction as the allegation that Corbyn is. was. or ever has been remotely antisemitic. Anyone who fails to recognize this indisputable fact may still have a faith in Santa Claus.
Corbyn did NOT recognize that there was antisemitism in Labour because there never was or ever has been any more “antisemitism” in Labour than in the rest of the British and anyone who thinks otherwise should use the internet rather than believe in the Sun or board of deputies.
“….do not confuse me with facts as my mind is made up.” Said Humpty-Dumpty to Jeremy C.
The MacPherson Report was published by a Gov’t in reation to MSM coverage of the brutal murder of Stephen Lawrence to be seen to be doing something. One of the recommendations of defining a complaint about ‘hate crimes’ was to record any incident as a race hate crime if the alledged victim believes that it is. Strange logic guaranteed to increase numbers of hate crime incidents.
The Labour Party Establishment is institutionally worse than useless in understanding or combating the worst racism which afflicts the most victims. The again dominant Labour Establishment contributes to the worst racism.
I agree with Jay. Surely we’ve been round the houses on this. The EHRC report was as much confected nonsense as the oxymoronic idea that there are socialist racists.
This isn’t to say that Labour does not have a racism problem, primarily a reflection of antagonism to black and Asian people – but it’s mainly societal not institutional as the party offers varied experience according to location.
Very interesting thread, which could be improved by better editing and presentation as a properly formatted article- making the (at times) disjointed argument clearer- as in the confusing poorly articulated sentence:
“ The leaked Labour Report demonstrates HQ was institutionally racist, it clearly states it disproves the idea anti-Semitism wasn’t a problem in the party or it was a ‘smear’ or ‘witch-hunt’”.