Key facts
- Keir Starmer claimed the Labour Party was "institutionally antisemitic" under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.
- Jeremy Corbyn stated that the EHRC report did not make such a finding.
- Corbyn accused Starmer of making false allegations for political gain.
- The EHRC report found specific examples of discrimination and political interference in Labour.
- The Forde Report found Labour staff members hostile to Corbyn engaged in deliberate obstruction.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has criticized his successor, Keir Starmer, for repeatedly stating that the party was "institutionally antisemitic" during Corbyn's tenure. Starmer made the claim during his final Prime Minister's Questions, recalling his efforts to reform the party after the 2019 general election loss.
Corbyn told Middle East Eye that Starmer's assertion was false and that no such finding was made by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). He accused Starmer of making misrepresentations and broken undertakings, which he described as a pattern under his leadership, contributing to the collapse of public support and the end of his premiership.
The EHRC's 2020 investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party found specific examples of harassment and discrimination, stating that the party could have tackled the issue more effectively. However, the report did not use the phrase "institutionally antisemitic," a claim that the report noted was made by Alan Johnson of the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (Bicom).
Corbyn, who stepped down as leader after the 2019 election defeat, acknowledged that Labour's processes for handling complaints were not fit for purpose when he took leadership in 2015, and that reform was stalled by party bureaucracy. The subsequent Forde Report in 2022 found that staff members hostile to Corbyn had engaged in deliberate obstruction.
Corbyn maintained that while antisemitism exists in the Labour Party, as it does throughout society, its scale was "dramatically overstated for political reasons" by opponents and media, which he stated "hurt Jewish people and must never be repeated."