AN MP is facing a complaint of anti-Semitism.
Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) has written to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to submit complaints against Jeremy Corbyn and 15 other MPs including Brighton Kemptown MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle.
CAA previously referred the Labour Party to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which published a damning report on Thursday.
The report found the party was responsible for three breaches of the Equality Act relating to political interference in anti-Semitism complaints, failure to provide adequate training to those handling anti-Semitism complaints and harassment.
Mr Corbyn’s successor as Labour leader Sir Keir said the report’s findings marked a “day of shame” for the party and he was “truly sorry for all the pain and grief that has been caused”.
Following the report, the CAA wrote to him to submit a number of complaints against several Labour MPs.
The CAA complaints against Mr Russell-Moyle include, but are not limited to, allegations he intervened on behalf of a party members facing disciplinary action for anti-Semitic comments –namely Brighton activists Melanie Melvin and Rebecca Massey.
Labour Party member Melanie Melvin was suspended for actions including a tweet which read: “Breaking: Sarin gas was filmed by the BBC at Pinewood on the orders of Mrs May and the Israeli lobby.”
It was alleged that Mr Russell-Moyle wrote to Labour Party general secretary Iain McNicol to say her tweet seemed “unhinged at best” but had, he believed, been made as a parody of online conspiracy theorists.
In July, The Sunday Times reported that Lloyd Russell-Moyle wrote letter in support of Rebecca Massey, an activist who said Israel had Labour and the Tories “under control”, to party headquarters.
Mr Russell-Moyle was not available for comment.
However, he has previously told The Argus he was not appealing on behalf of Ms Melvin and if further evidence came to light that Ms Melvin held anti-Semitic views there “should be no place for her” in the Labour Party.
The CAA letter named Diane Abbott, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Barry Gardiner, Afzal Khan and Zarah Sultana as other individuals that it is submitting complaints against.
The letter states: “Whether Labour under its new leadership has turned a corner will be judged by how it deals with complaints, including those we have made, going forward.
“In our view, action on our complaints is a necessary step for the Labour Party towards regaining the values that it lost and to begin restoring the trust of the Jewish community.”
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