Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he wanted to be able to “draw a line in the sand” after the anti-Semitism report’s publication, but Jeremy Corbyn hindered that. Since the release of the EHRC report into the Labour Party, Mr Corbyn has been suspended pending further investigation and has had the whip removed. Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Sir Keir said: “Within the Shadow Cabinet you have responsibility, I accept that.
“We all have to accept the findings yesterday and apologise for them.
“Recognise the hurt they have caused and be absolutely detemined as I am to implement the recommendations as quickly as possible.”
BBC presenter Charlie Stayt interjected: “As Luciana Berger said very clearly, for people looking from the outside what happened to her wasn’t hidden.
“The question to anyone who was in a senior role in the Labour Party over that period of time is, why weren’t you seeing it?
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“If as you say, you did call it out why did you stay metaphorically in the room?
“You were backing Jeremy Corbyn whose leadership in this report has been called so far into question in terms of legality.
“You backed him just by staying there.”
Sir Keir continued: “I called this out in the Shadow Cabinet as did a number of other people and publicly.
The EHRC concluded that the lack of training for people handling anti-Semitism complaints indirectly discriminated against Jewish members until August 2020, by which time Sir Keir Starmer was leader of the party.
Labour has committed to proper training, with the EHRC recommending it should be mandatory and fully implemented within six months.
Recommendations made by the watchdog include commissioning an independent process to handle anti-Semitism complaints.
The EHRC’s lead investigator Alasdair Henderson told a press conference that blame could not be placed on one person alone and the problem went beyond Mr Corbyn, but added that “as leader of the party, and with evidence of political interference from within his office, he does have a responsibility ultimately for those failings”.
