Labour executive to consider automatically expelling members for racism as Tom Watson leads demands for change

Ruling executive to debate plans to make investigations fully independent as senior figures demand 'radical change and fresh thinking'

Labour’s ruling executive is to vote on whether to radically change how the party handles allegations of racism after Tom Watson, its deputy leader, led attempts to force a change in the wake of further damaging revelations about antisemitism.

Mr Watson and four other members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) are demanding that the party introduce an independent complaints procedure and automatically expel members in some cases after criticism over how it currently handles allegations.

The group has tabled a motion, to be voted on at a meeting next week, that would pave the way for complaints about racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia to be investigated independently.

Members would also be suspended automatically if there was “irrefutable evidence” of one of these offences.

Allegations of antisemitism are currently dealt with by panels made up of members of the NEC, who decide whether or not the case should be passed to the party’s main disciplinary body, the National Constitutional Committee.

The motion tabled by the five NEC members says “radical change and fresh thinking” are needed to improve the way the party deals with allegations.

The latest move follows heavy criticism of the way Labour has handled cases of alleged antisemitism in the wake of a BBC Panorama documentary last week.

The programme featured several whistleblowers claiming Jeremy Corbyn’s team had intervened in the disciplinary process to encourage more lenient punishments for people accused to anti-Jewish abuse. Labour denied this, and has complained to the BBC about the programme.

The motion to be discussed by the NEC proposes that an independent barrister or similar figure should be appointed to draw up plans for how the new process would work. They would consult with the Jewish community and other minority groups before putting forward a proposal to the NEC.

The motion was signed by MPs Mr Watson and George Howarth, plus councillors James Asser, Nick Forbes and Alice Perry.

If approved by the NEC, the changes would be voted on at the party’s annual conference in September.

The motion says: “The NEC believes the Labour Party is an anti-racist party committed to equality and building a better, fairer future for all.

“We are fully committed to the support, defence and celebration of the Jewish community and implacably opposed to anti-Jewish racism and racism in any form.

It continues: “Members who express racist, sexist, homophobic or transphobic views have no place in the Labour Party.

“We need radical change and fresh thinking in our disciplinary rules to swiftly and fairly root out the evils of racism in our party and restore confidence in our processes.”

The group made reference to letters from a group of left-wing Labour MPs and a from a group of senior Labour peers criticising Mr Corbyn’s response to antisemitism in the party.

Last week, 28 Labour MPs from the Tribune grouping said they were “shocked” by the revelations in the Panorama programme “about the handling of antisemitism complaints and how individual employees have been treated”.

They called for a “an independent investigation into the allegations of interference into party procedures” and the creation of a new complaints procedure that has involvement from Jewish representatives and is “totally independent from the leadership of the Labour Party”.

On Monday, four senior Labour peers wrote to Mr Corbyn to raise “concerns” over antisemitism, which they called a ”toxic and endemic problem that we have failed to eradicate”.

Given this, they said, it was “deeply saddening but not surprising” that three Labour peers resigned the whip over the issue last week.

The letter, signed by Angela Smith, Labour’s House of Lords leader, and Tommy McAvoy, its chief whip, suggested that Mr Corbyn should allow some of the party’s peers to set up a panel to assess the allegations in the Panorama programme, draw up plans for an independent complaints procedure and suggest how the party’s structures could be changed to improve transparency and leadership.

Labour declined to comment on the draft NEC motion, but a party source suggested that a fully independent process would be difficult to implement because of data protection laws governing members’ details.