Jeremy Corbyn has personally backed new plans to accelerate the expulsion of
Labour party members found guilty of anti-Semitism.
In a bid to end the three-year row over the issue, Corbyn told his shadow cabinet on Monday that he supported proposals to fast-track disciplinary action by giving the ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) sweeping new powers.
Ahead of what was expected to be a fractious meeting with his MPs, the Labour leader revealed two options for taking tougher action against those accused of anti-Jewish hatred.
One was to allow NEC panels to expel members, albeit with the right of appeal to another body, the National Constitutional Committee (NCC).
The other option, supported by Corbyn personally, is to create a special panel made up of the party general secretary and NEC officers, with the power to boot out those guilty of the worst excesses.
His move came as general secretary Jennie Formby released new figures showing that just eight people had been expelled for the offence in 2019, out of 22 cases concluded.
The new figures showed that in the first six months of this year, 625 members were accused of anti-Semitism, a proportion the party said represented 0.1% of its membership.
Corbyn said: “Some complaints have taken too long to deal with. This is not good enough.
“Our members don’t want to share their party with anyone who is racist – and they want to be able to demonstrate there is no place for antisemitism among them.”
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