Labour apologises to BBC Panorama over antisemitism claims and hands out six-figure settlement
Labour has formally apologised to BBC’s Panorama for claiming it had misrepresented allegations of antisemitism within the party, and promised to shell out “substantial damages” to whistleblowers who sued the party over the row.
The party issued an unreserved apology at the High Court after agreeing to settle a defamation lawsuit by seven Labour whistleblowers who spoke out against the party in a BBC Panorama programme last year.
Labour said efforts were made to damage the reputation of the seven former members of staff, as part of an out-of-court libel settlement that cost an estimated £500,000.
The party said its actions had caused “distress, embarrassment and hurt”.
In the July 2019 Panorama programme, entitled Is Labour Anti-Semitic?, several former party officials alleged that senior figures close to then-leader Jeremy Corbyn had interfered in the process of dealing with antisemitism complaints.
The whistleblowers also claimed they had faced a huge increase in complaints since Corbyn became leader in 2015.
Following the initial broadcast, a Labour party spokesman denounced them as “disaffected former staff” who had “personal and political axes” to grind, and accused them of trying to undermine Corbyn’s leadership.
Labour also accused the programme of showing “deliberate and malicious representations designed to mislead the public”.
Former Labour employees Kat Buckingham, Michael Creighton, Samuel Matthews, Dan Hogan, Louise Withers Green, Benjamin Westerman and Martha Robinson, plus Panorama journalist John Ware launched a libel suit against the party.
In its apology today, Labour said: “We acknowledge the many years of dedicated and committed service that the whistleblowers have given to the Labour party as members and as staff. We appreciate their valuable contribution at all levels of the party.”
“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.”
It added that “John Ware is a very experienced broadcast and print journalist, producer and author, and we have agreed to pay damages to him”.
Speaking outside the High Court after the hearing, Labour’s shadow attorney general Lord Falconer said: “It is a clear line under a dispute between the Labour party and people who had been whistleblowers about antisemitism.”
“We can focus now not on litigation, which is a disastrous thing for a party to be focusing on. Instead, it should be focusing on championing the things that matter to the public, so it’s a good day,” Lord Falconer added.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn slammed Labour’s apology to Panorama and former staffers as a “political decision”.
In a statement, Corbyn said: “Labour party members have a right to accountability and transparency of decisions taken in their name, and an effective commitment from the party to combat antisemitism and racism in all their forms.
“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.
He also lambasted the six-figure settlement to former staff as “disappointing”, adding that it “risks giving credibility to misleading and inaccurate allegations about action taken to tackle antisemitism in the Labour Party in recent years”.
“To give our members the answers and justice they deserve, the inquiry… must now fully address the evidence the internal report uncovered of racism, sexism, factionalism and obstruction of Labour’s 2017 General Election campaign,” Corbyn added.
Current Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has emphasised his commitment to weed out antisemitism from the party, committing to implement the full recommendations of an inquiry by the equality watchdog into Labour’s culture due out in September.
Last month Starmer fired Corbyn ally Rebecca Long-Bailey from the shadow cabinet for re-tweeting an article containing an antisemitic conspiracy theory.
A spokesperson for the leader of the opposition said: “As leader of the Labour Party, Keir has been clear that restoring trust with the Jewish community is a number one priority. Antisemitism takes many different forms and it is important that we all are vigilant against it.”