FORMER LABOUR PARTY leader Jeremy Corbyn has condemned the Labour Party’s ‘political’ decision to apologise and pay damages of over £500,000 to so-called party ‘whistleblowers’ who took part in a Panorama documentary on anti-Semitism.
In the July 2019 the programme, entitled: ‘Is Labour Anti-Semitic?’ a number of former party officials alleged that senior figures close to the leadership at the time had interfered in the process of dealing with anti-Semitism complaints. In its response at the time, a party spokesman denounced them as ‘disaffected former staff’ who had ‘personal and political axes’ to grind and were trying to undermine Corbyn.
Corbyn said the Labour Party decision to settle the legal claims with an apology and ‘substantial payments’ was ‘disappointing’, adding the party’s legal advice was that it ‘had a strong defence’.
In a statement read out in the High Court, Labour said it unreservedly apologised and was determined to root out anti-Semitism in the party and the wider Labour movement.
‘Before the broadcast of the programme, the Labour Party had issued a press release that contained defamatory and false allegations about these whistleblowers,’ the party statement continued. It added: ‘We unreservedly withdraw all allegations of bad faith, malice and lying. We would like to apologise unreservedly for the distress, embarrassment and hurt caused by their publication. We have agreed to pay them damages.’
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey described the settlement as a ‘misuse’ of the party’s funds, saying Labour had been advised that it would win the case. He added: ‘The leaked report on how anti-Semitism was handled tells a very different story about what happened.’
McCluskey and other allies of Corbyn, who stood down in the spring after four years of leading the party, had urged the new leader Sir Keir Starmer to contest the lawsuit. Starmer refused to do so!
McCluskey said: ‘The party’s decision to apologise today and make substantial payments to former staff who sued the party in relation to last year’s Panorama programme is a political decision, not a legal one.’
Corbyn said: ‘Our legal advice was that the party had a strong defence, and the evidence in the leaked Labour report that is now the subject of an NEC inquiry led by Martin Forde QC strengthened concerns about the role played by some of those who took part in the programme …’
Labour agreed to pay a reported six-figure settlement to seven former staff, saying it had withdrawn ‘all allegations of bad faith, malice and lying’. However, Mark Lewis the libel lawyer has said that he has now been instructed by BBC journalist John Ware to pursue action against Corbyn over his latest remarks.
The truth is that the UK ruling class and its parliamentary servants are determined to destroy Corbyn politically. His big crime is that he ran the Tories close in the 2017 general election on a programme of supporting the 2016 Brexit referendum decision to leave the EU, and recruited many thousands of young people into the Labour Party.
He was also a 100% supporter for establishing the Palestinian state, who would not keep quiet on Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people, and thus earned the hatred of all pro-Zionists.
He was unable to maintain his 100% Brexit position for the 2019 crisis ‘Brexit’ general election, so Labour lost to the Johnson-led Tories, when millions of Labour voters abandoned ship and voted for Brexit leader Johnson.
The ruling class however has not allowed him to rest in peace, even with his replacement by Starmer as leader, and this is not just over his position of supporting Palestine.
The UK is now at the centre of a massive world crisis of the capitalist system. Everywhere from New York to London, Paris and Berlin the capitalist system is in a desperate crisis, sharpened by the coronavirus pandemic, and is collapsing with millions of unemployed, and billions of losses.
The only way out of this crisis for the ruling class is to crush the working class and its trade unions – to start making profits and not gigantic losses. This is the greatest crisis of capitalism ever. Johnson and the Tories are weak, in the face of this crisis, and need assistance.
The ruling class needs a National Government, but with Corbyn in the Labour Party leadership that prospect is dodgy. Their candidate for a new Ramsay Mac either as PM or in a deputy role in a Tory-led National Government is Starmer.
This is why they are out to destroy Corbyn. With furloughing coming to an end and the prospect of up to 11 million unemployed they will need a National, Starmer-led, Government, to keep the TUC on board. Crushing Corbyn is in order to create the conditions for a National Government. This is why at Wednesday’s PM Questions, Starmer and Johnson celebrated Corbyn’s ‘demise’, with Starmer insisting the the Russia Today TV station must be shut down!
The trade unions must intervene to insist: ‘Hands off Corbyn!’ They must call an emergency TUC Congress to call a general strike to bring down the Johnson government and bring in a workers’ government and socialism.This is the only way forward!FORMER LABOUR PARTY leader Jeremy Corbyn has condemned the Labour Party’s ‘political’ decision to apologise and pay damages of over £500,000 to so-called party ‘whistleblowers’ who took part in a Panorama documentary on anti-Semitism.
In the July 2019 the programme, entitled: ‘Is Labour Anti-Semitic?’ a number of former party officials alleged that senior figures close to the leadership at the time had interfered in the process of dealing with anti-Semitism complaints. In its response at the time, a party spokesman denounced them as ‘disaffected former staff’ who had ‘personal and political axes’ to grind and were trying to undermine Corbyn.
Corbyn said the Labour Party decision to settle the legal claims with an apology and ‘substantial payments’ was ‘disappointing’, adding the party’s legal advice was that it ‘had a strong defence’.
In a statement read out in the High Court, Labour said it unreservedly apologised and was determined to root out anti-Semitism in the party and the wider Labour movement.
‘Before the broadcast of the programme, the Labour Party had issued a press release that contained defamatory and false allegations about these whistleblowers,’ the party statement continued. It added: ‘We unreservedly withdraw all allegations of bad faith, malice and lying. We would like to apologise unreservedly for the distress, embarrassment and hurt caused by their publication. We have agreed to pay them damages.’
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey described the settlement as a ‘misuse’ of the party’s funds, saying Labour had been advised that it would win the case. He added: ‘The leaked report on how anti-Semitism was handled tells a very different story about what happened.’
McCluskey and other allies of Corbyn, who stood down in the spring after four years of leading the party, had urged the new leader Sir Keir Starmer to contest the lawsuit. Starmer refused to do so!
McCluskey said: ‘The party’s decision to apologise today and make substantial payments to former staff who sued the party in relation to last year’s Panorama programme is a political decision, not a legal one.’
Corbyn said: ‘Our legal advice was that the party had a strong defence, and the evidence in the leaked Labour report that is now the subject of an NEC inquiry led by Martin Forde QC strengthened concerns about the role played by some of those who took part in the programme …’
Labour agreed to pay a reported six-figure settlement to seven former staff, saying it had withdrawn ‘all allegations of bad faith, malice and lying’. However, Mark Lewis the libel lawyer has said that he has now been instructed by BBC journalist John Ware to pursue action against Corbyn over his latest remarks.
The truth is that the UK ruling class and its parliamentary servants are determined to destroy Corbyn politically. His big crime is that he ran the Tories close in the 2017 general election on a programme of supporting the 2016 Brexit referendum decision to leave the EU, and recruited many thousands of young people into the Labour Party.
He was also a 100% supporter for establishing the Palestinian state, who would not keep quiet on Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people, and thus earned the hatred of all pro-Zionists.
He was unable to maintain his 100% Brexit position for the 2019 crisis ‘Brexit’ general election, so Labour lost to the Johnson-led Tories, when millions of Labour voters abandoned ship and voted for Brexit leader Johnson.
The ruling class however has not allowed him to rest in peace, even with his replacement by Starmer as leader, and this is not just over his position of supporting Palestine.
The UK is now at the centre of a massive world crisis of the capitalist system. Everywhere from New York to London, Paris and Berlin the capitalist system is in a desperate crisis, sharpened by the coronavirus pandemic, and is collapsing with millions of unemployed, and billions of losses.
The only way out of this crisis for the ruling class is to crush the working class and its trade unions – to start making profits and not gigantic losses. This is the greatest crisis of capitalism ever. Johnson and the Tories are weak, in the face of this crisis, and need assistance.
The ruling class needs a National Government, but with Corbyn in the Labour Party leadership that prospect is dodgy. Their candidate for a new Ramsay Mac either as PM or in a deputy role in a Tory-led National Government is Starmer.
This is why they are out to destroy Corbyn. With furloughing coming to an end and the prospect of up to 11 million unemployed they will need a National, Starmer-led, Government, to keep the TUC on board. Crushing Corbyn is in order to create the conditions for a National Government. This is why at Wednesday’s PM Questions, Starmer and Johnson celebrated Corbyn’s ‘demise’, with Starmer insisting the the Russia Today TV station must be shut down!
The trade unions must intervene to insist: ‘Hands off Corbyn!’ They must call an emergency TUC Congress to call a general strike to bring down the Johnson government and bring in a workers’ government and socialism.This is the only way forward!
