On Thursday 6 June, Taj Ali broke the news on X that the Labour Party is discontinuing its legal claims against Jeremy Corbyn’s ex-staffers.
In April 2020, a document was leaked which exposed thousands of racist messages, emails, and internal documents. It also revealed how right-wing senior staffers ran a coup against Corbyn, the leader of the party at the time. Party officials then silenced, excluded, and expelled its own left-wing members in an attempt to undermine Corbyn’s attempt at becoming prime minister.
As the Canary’s Ed Sykes wrote back in 2020, the report was:
a particularly significant revelation in light of the years-long smear campaign which sought to convince British voters that Corbyn and his supporters were somehow raving antisemites.
Nine people then started legal action against Labour, claiming they had breached their data after reporting antisemitism.
Labour didn’t want to take responsibility or presumably pay damages. So, they named five ex-Corbyn staffers who had put the report together. In September last year, the nine dropped the legal case. However, Labour did not drop its case, perhaps aiming to get back some of the costs:
It is hard to sum up the Labour Party’s hierarchy of racism better than paying out cash to some racism whistleblowers, while wasting £1.4M trying to identify and sue people who you suspect blew the whistle about a different kind of racism https://t.co/GWcVeb2vfp pic.twitter.com/JUKPuZOHKI
— Peter MᶜNamara (@Zedcalmo) June 6, 2024
All five had condemned the leaking of the report. Funnily enough, three separate reports took place to try and find the person responsible, but no one was able.
Finally on 6 June, Labour dropped the legal case:
NEW: Labour is discontinuing its legal claims against Corbyn’s ex-staffers.
The Party had accused them of leaking a controversial document exposing racist messages and factional hostility to the previous leadership.
By October, the party’s legal pursuit had cost almost £1.4m.
— Taj Ali (@Taj_Ali1) June 6, 2024
Labour: wasted election funds?
According to reports from the BBC, the party had already spent £1.5m by October last year, and planned to spend nearly £900k more.
Since the election was announced, the Labour Party has been desperately emailing members and ex-members, begging for general election donations. Anyone would think it was strapped for cash:
The pre tv debate fundraising drive didn’t go so well pic.twitter.com/lug1M68vxU
— Patricia 🍉 (@loveisbrilliant) June 6, 2024
Labour Party is sending begging letters to members every day desperate for money for the General Election.
A party that prioritises spending on factional and spiteful bullying.
Don’t vote Labour. https://t.co/qYuXVkBiv4
— Juliet Brown 🇵🇸🍉 (@JulietB270880) June 6, 2024
So far on the campaign trail, Starmer wants us to believe we should trust him more than Sunak with our money. Should we be taking this legal case as an example of what is to come?
The Labour Party: we can be trusted with the country’s finances.
Also the Labour Party: https://t.co/xywtlRT4mp
— Everton are a social experiment (@fertile_shire) June 6, 2024
Members and ex-members are understandably angry at the apparent misuse of membership fees. Other people pointed out how Labour could have used that money on the campaign trail. It could have benefitted candidates such as Faiza Shaheen or Diane Abbott.
Recently, Labour has made it obvious that it isn’t the party for minorities. That is ironic when in the background they were still battling the fallout of the leak which exposed thousands of racist messages. Some of which staffers had aimed at Diane Abbott:
As an ex-party member can I sue Labour for misuse of my (& every other party members) subs?
— Agggghhhhh….🙏🇵🇸🕊 (@catkibb) June 6, 2024
1.4 mln spent on bogus charges – imagine those money being used to support Diane Abbott and Faiza Shaheen on campaign trail. But no. https://t.co/mEcF8299yF
— Malicia Dabrowicz (Vanadian Avenue) (@cocamidemea) June 6, 2024
Using the machinery of a large organisation to go after your factional rivals who exposed the toxic racism and bullying at heart of labour is fascistic and authoritarian aswell as an abuse of power and members funds.
This what they’ll continue to do in govt you’ve been warned https://t.co/Sa2bCEFENe
— free parking (@smerkinkones) June 6, 2024
Corbyn and his team vindicated (again)
Labour has consistently weaponised racism against Abbott and other potential election candidates. It is clear that Starmer – supposedly one of our leading legal minds – only follows up on racism allegations when those on the political right stand to benefit from it.
The whole legal case was a colossal waste of time. It clearly hasn’t addressed racism within the party and if anything, has only served to cement it. Moreover, it was clearly an attempt to the Labour right to further smear Corbyn and his team’s legacy.
But it seems that now an election is around the corner, Labour wanted to bury this hatchet. Had it not gone the party’s way, it really could have really messed up its chances.
Feature image via Jeremy Corbyn/Wikimedia
