Police launch investigation into alleged anti-Semitic hate crimes within Labour
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Loading... - Ken Ma
- 02 Nov 2021
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The Metropolitan Police has launched a criminal investigation into allegations of anti-Semitic hate crimes within the Labour Party.
The investigation was sparked by an internal Labour Party dossier obtained by radio station LBC.
The file was handed to Met Commissioner Cressida Dick during a regular phone-in on the radio stations.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: "On Tuesday 4 September, the Met Commissioner was handed a folder of paperwork following a radio interview with LBC Radio in Leicester Square. The complainant alleged that the documentation included evidence of anti-Semitic hate crimes.
"The contents have been examined by specialist officers.
"A criminal investigation has commenced into some of the allegations within the documentation.
"Early investigative advice is being sought from the Crown Prosecution Service.
"The MPS will not comment further on the details of our investigation."
LBC, who obtained the leaked document, had it reviewed by Mak Chishty, who was in charge of dealing with hate crime for the Metropolitan police until last year.
Out of the 45 anti-Semitism cases within the files he said 17 should have been reported to the police as a race-hate incident for investigation.
The former Met Commander said a further four warrant a criminal investigation as hate crimes.
Among the messages were "We shall rid the Jews who are cancer on us all…." and "Zionist extremist MP who hates civilised people about to get a good kicking", according to LBC, which saw the file drawn up by Mak Chishty, who was in charge of dealing with hate crime for the Met until last year.
Deputy Labour Leader Tom Watson described the report as "thoroughly depressing" but said he wasn't surprised.
He told BBC Radio Scotland: "If it does one thing, it will dispel the myth that has been propagated by some people in my own party and beyond it that there is an anti-Semitism in my own party and we are determined to root it out."
"I've not seen the details within the dossier, I just know it exists.
"I don't know how it ended up in the hands of the police but I'm very pleased it has done because we've not just said that we want to root out anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, but if people have crossed the line on criminal behaviour through hate crime, and I'm afraid it doesn't surprise me that some have, then I'm very pleased that this is being taken seriously by the police."
The Labour Party has not been contacted by the police but is ready to co-operate with the investigation.
A spokesman said: "The Labour Party has a robust system for investigating complaints of alleged breaches of Labour Party rules by its members.
"Where someone feels they have been a victim of crime, they should report it to the police in the usual way."
Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said the Labour Party itself was not under investigation.
"We are not going to investigate the Labour Party. We would always want institutions and political parties and similar to be able to regulate themselves," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"However, if somebody passes us material which they say amounts to a crime we have a duty to look at that and not just dismiss it.
"We have been assessing some material that was passed to me, in a radio studio of all things, about two months ago and we are now investigating some of that material because it appears there may have been crime committed.
"We are liaising immediately with the Crown Prosecution Service and I hope we will be able to clear that up very quickly."
