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The Mail on Sunday is reporting that the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) will launch a formal statutory investigation into the Labour Party's handling of antisemitism.
If accurate, what is going to happen next?
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7…
(Short thread)
If accurate, what is going to happen next?
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7…
(Short thread)
(Full disclosure: I act for the Campaign Against Antisemitism in reporting Labour to the EHRC. You can read my thoughts about why an investigation is necessary here) theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
This is the second time a Sunday newspaper has made the same claim - see Sunday Times over a month ago.
Entirely possible that EHRC has been sitting on the decision, or quietly proceeding, because didn't want to impact on local and Euro elections /2
Entirely possible that EHRC has been sitting on the decision, or quietly proceeding, because didn't want to impact on local and Euro elections /2
The powers and duties of the UK's equalities and human rights regulator arise from the Equality Act 2006. It has general duties to aid the development of a fair and equal society founded on human rights /3 legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/3/s…
The EHRC has wide-ranging enforcement powers. In respect of an organisation, the high point is an investigation under section 20, which in this case will be because the EHRC suspects Labour has committed an unlawful act /4 legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/3/p…
An "unlawful act" is one which contravenes the Equality Act 2010, which outlaws discrimination on grounds of 9 'protected characteristics' - for these purposes, the important ones are "religion" and "race". Jews have been protected as both /5 legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/3/s…
How would an investigation work? Schedule 2 gives more detail, including:
- Terms of reference are set and Labour will have a chance to make representations on them (para 3)
- People will be able to make representations including possibly orally /6
legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/3/s…
- Terms of reference are set and Labour will have a chance to make representations on them (para 3)
- People will be able to make representations including possibly orally /6
legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/3/s…
- Here's an important bit: the EHRC can force Labour to provide information, documents or oral evidence and get a court order if they don't comply.
This is why the investigation could have real bite. These powers are similar to a public inquiry under the Inquires Act /7
This is why the investigation could have real bite. These powers are similar to a public inquiry under the Inquires Act /7
What happens at the end?
The EHRC "shall" (i.e. has to) publish a report of its findings and "may" make recommendations
If it finds Labour has committed an unlawful act/s the EHRC may give an "unlawful act notice" which requires preparation of an action plan /8
The EHRC "shall" (i.e. has to) publish a report of its findings and "may" make recommendations
If it finds Labour has committed an unlawful act/s the EHRC may give an "unlawful act notice" which requires preparation of an action plan /8
The EHRC can enter into an agreement with an organisation to change its behaviour. If it doesn't comply the EHRC can, in principle, apply to a court to compel the organisation to comply /9 legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/3/s…
In this respect, an EHRC investigation has far stronger powers than a public inquiry, which can make recommendations but not legally enforce them.
What would the investigation of Labour look like? The EHRC hasn't done many investigations into specific organisations (equalityhumanrights.com/en/ein-camau-c…) but perhaps the most relevant recent example was into the Met Police equalityhumanrights.com/en/inquiries-a… /10
The full report of the section 20 investigation into the Met Police can be found here. The 'scope' may give a sense of the kind of wide ranging investigation which could be launched into Labour /11 equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/…
Based on Met Police investigation, it seems unlikely that the EHRC will investigate the many thousands of allegations of antisemitism in Labour - it is more likely to look at "systemic unlawful acts", ie how the party as a whole has handled the issue /12 equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/…
If EHRC goes ahead, it is a huge deal. The last (and only) political party it investigated was the BNP. It has strong powers to force disclosure of documents and information. It can also tell Labour to implement new systems and enforce those changes in the courts if needed /13
My hope is that an investigation would provide a constructive process by which Labour can finally begin to understand its failure to deal with this issue and put in place systems and (eventually) culture so that it is once again a welcome place for Jewish people /14
I should clarify re tweet /12, of course EHRC would have to look at specific examples of antisemitism to understand and read conclusions on the issue. But I doubt it will do a root and branch examination of all alleged incidents. More likely to use appropriate case studies
... for a model of how this works see the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse which focusses on institutional failings through carefully chose case studies. Given the scale of Labour’s problems, this may be the way to go /16
