Why is Labour unable to end its antisemitism crisis?

Politics Explained: The crisis has dragged on for most of Jeremy Corbyn’s time as leader, so why can’t Labour make it go away?

The row over antisemitism in Labour exploded back into the headlines last week after the decision to allow Chris Williamson to rejoin the party after a four-month suspension.

The saga over anti-Jewish abuse in the party has rumbled on for almost three years, erupting every now and again, and shows no sign of settling down.

Some senior figures in Labour, including John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, are desperate to put an end to the row, believing it is affecting the party’s chances of winning power.

So why has the problem so persistently refused to go away?

The first reason is that Labour took two years to start taking the problem seriously. Initial concerns about antisemitism were dismissed as “smears” by Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, and “mood music” by Len McCluskey, leader of the Unite trade union and a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn. For a long time, the Labour leadership and its key outriders refused to accept the scale of the problem.

That changed last year. After a disastrous summer of nonstop coverage about the scandal, Labour eventually agreed to adopt the internationally recognised definition of antisemitism and announced a new process designed to speed up investigations.

Matters have improved somewhat since then. Mr Corbyn has spoken publicly about the scale of the issue, including apologising to the Jewish community, and disciplinary processes have been sped up.

But many in Labour still see the row over anti-Jewish abuse as a storm in a teacup, and believe it is being either made up or exaggerated to damage Mr Corbyn. Those who share this view include some at very senior levels of the party. While they wish the issue would go away, many in Labour are still unwilling to take the action needed to make that happen.

The second issue is Mr Corbyn’s loyalty to those close to him, and his deep frustration at being blamed for the crisis. While his team were frustrated at the problems Mr Williamson was causing, they initially intervened to stop the Derby North MP being suspended for claiming that Labour had been “too apologetic” and “given too much ground” in tackling antisemitism. As one shadow minister put it to me last week: “Jeremy is fiercely loyal to the people who are loyal to him. It’s both a strength and a major weakness.”

The third problem is that Labour’s disciplinary procedures are heavily politicised. The party has refused to introduce an independent complaints procedure for cases of antisemitism, despite repeated calls for it to do so. This has led to repeated accusations – initially denied - that Mr Corbyn’s team had intervened during investigations to encourage more lenient action.

Under current party rules, members of Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) decide whether disciplinary cases should be referred to its main investigatory body, the National Constitutional Committee (NCC). While the NCC is supposed to operate quasi-judicially, and its members are not well-known, the NEC is highly factional and decisions are often politicised.

The panel of three NEC members that ruled on Mr Williamson’s case consisted of MPs Keith Vaz and George Howarth, and a representative of Labour members, Huda Elmi. Mr Williamson was a vocal supporter of Ms Elmi’s election to the committee, and Mr Vaz reportedly raised concerns about the impact of suspending an MP in a marginal seat that Labour hopes to retain.

Another reason for the ongoing row is the lack of awareness about antisemitism and what it is. While many forms of prejudice are overt, antisemitism is often more subtle, playing not on an outright hatred of Jews but on negative tropes about them.

This means that antisemitic comments are often dismissed by party members as innocuous, while those making them frequently claim to have been entirely unaware of their antisemitic connotations. Labour has talked about an educational programme on antisemitism, but it is unclear how it will force members to take part.

The crisis has had an unquestionable impact. Some 50 per cent of voters now think Labour has a problem with antisemitism, compared with 18 per cent who disagree. Some 65 per cent think Mr Corbyn’s handling of the crisis has been “incompetent”.

How this will affect the party’s performance in an election is hard to measure, but senior Labour figures such as Mr McDonnell remain furious that the failure to tackle the crisis has so often prevented Labour from talking about the issues it wants to campaign on. For all their frustration, the row shows little sign of going away.