As Parliament rises for the Christmas recess, Jeremy Corbyn ends the term one MP down. Ivan Lewis has this afternoon quit the party citing Corbyn’s response to allegations of Labour anti-Semitism as a motivating factor. Complicating matters is the fact that Lewis – a former Labour minister – has been suspended by the party since November pending an internal party investigation into an allegation of sexual harassment.
In his resignation letter, Lewis – MP for Bury South – says it was with ‘great sadness’ he had come to this decision to quit the party – before turning his ire on Corbyn’s handling of anti-Semitism allegations: ‘All too often you have been unwilling to condemn those whose hatred of Israel becomes Jew hatred’. Lewis does also criticise the party’s handling of the investigation into him. He claims that the fact the investigation has gone on so long has been ‘politically motivated’ and says the delays have had a negative impact on his mental health.
Labour insist this is not the case. In a party statement, a spokesman said:
‘The Labour Party takes all complaints of sexual harassment extremely seriously, which are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures and appropriate disciplinary action taken. This case was referred to a full hearing of Labour’s National Constitutional Committee. The process is the same for everyone.’
So, what’s the truth of the situation? While it’s true that Jeremy Corbyn’s handling of anti-Semitism allegations has unsettled the bulk of Labour MPs, this has been going on for sometime. It’s not as though there have been recent developments on the anti-Semitism problem in recent weeks. It follows that the investigation over sexual harassment allegation is the tipping point.
There are plenty of Labour MPs who are deeply unhappy with the internal investigation set-up. There has been talk of bringing in an independent element to it but that is yet to manifest itself in any clear way. With such little transparency, there is no way of holding the party to account in its handling of these claims. It was for similar reasons that John Woodcock quit earlier this year to stand as an independent. Those individuals who have submitted complaints against MPs have also expressed concerned at the way the party has handled the process. Earlier this year, there was much criticism when Kelvin Hopkins – who is suspended over harassment claims – said he had been given permission to cross-examine his accuser in written questions at a disciplinary hearing.
Whether Lewis quit as a result of Labour games or to avoid a verdict as his critics have suggested, it’s clear that the one group that suffers most are those complainants who won’t see the investigation reach a conclusion.
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