On 16th July, reports emerged that the Labour party is slated to issue a formal apology to all those who had disclosed that anti-semitism was rampant within the party when Jeremy Corbyn was the leader.
According to The Guardian, whistleblowers sued the party for defamation in light of BBC Panorama investigation last year. They had claimed that senior members of the party had attacked their reputation and had personal and political motives to damage the party.
In the BBC Panorama programme, a Labour spokesman called them “disaffected former officials” and said they had “worked actively to undermine” Corbyn and had “both personal and political axes to grind”.
Seven of the eight whistleblowers – all former Labour staffers – who featured in the documentary instructed the prominent media lawyer Mark Lewis to take action against the party.
No final settlement has been reached but sources said an agreement was imminent with a formal apology requested from the party, to be read in open court.
Labour MPs are also waiting for the arrival of the findings of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) investigation into allegations of institutional antisemitism. The party revealed this week that it had received a draft of the report and party leader, Sir Keir Starmer and his deputy, Angela Rayner, have both said publicly they will accept the EHRC’s finding.
