Whatever happened to the Forde enquiry?

Very very interesting. A complex study which needs to be read a lot. More of the truth, indeed. Naive, duplicitous and incompetent, Keir Starmer is sinking.

Every couple of months I email the EHRC to tell them that they are late publishing the minutes of their latest board meeting. The September minutes have just been published, nearly 2 months late (they would have been approved at the November 19th meeting and should have been published immediately after).

This is what the September minutes say about the LP report:
“6.3.2. The Lead Commissioner on the Labour Party investigation advised substantial representations on the draft report had been received, and in light of the complexity of the issues raised, additional legal advice, which would incur an additional cost, had been sought which would delay publication slightly. The internal team were working up a new detailed delivery plan and proposed publication date and would submit this for approval shortly. The work required by the representations will require an increase to the budget for the investigation.”

The EHRC report into the LP was published on 29th October i.e. between the September and November Board meetings, so as far as I can tell, the Board neither considered the draft that was mentioned in the paragraph above, nor the amended one (after the legal advice, which was possibly the result of the writ issued by Chris Williamson) before it was published. When reports are presented to Board meetings, the minutes usually say something like “The Board discussed paper number ….” This appears not to have happened with the final version of the LP report at least.

They are having nice cosy discussions with the Tories about the latter’s internal enquiry (announced December 2019): “At its meeting on 11th March, the Board took a decision to monitor the progress of the investigation into discrimination and Islamophobia in the Conservative Party, chaired by Professor Swaran Singh. The Chair and CEO met with Professor Singh on 7th September, and determined that progress had been made. Monthly meetings will take place with Professor Singh going forward. An outline of the proposed Memorandum of Understanding and the plans to provide assurance on progress of the inquiry would be supplied to the Board.” A member of the Government Equalities Office attended the September Board meeting, which seems convenient.

Singh is a former EHRC commissioner, has played down India’s oppressive role in taking over Kashmir and written for Spiked, the Tories’ go to people when it comes to race and oppression. So, perhaps not coincidentally – and judging by his views on racism and mental health – expressed in a BMJ article in September 2006 – he seems to not believe that institutional racism exists.

When the Forde Inquiry was initially set up they said that it would conclude and report its findings by mid July (2020) – ie some three months after it was set up, but that deadline has now been ‘extended’ TWICE! The following is an excerpt from a BBC News article published on May 1st with the headline ‘Labour names head of leaked report investigation’:

Sir Keir, who was elected leader last month, promised a “swift” independent inquiry into the contents of the report and how it was leaked after it became public over the Easter weekend.

Last week, the NEC agreed to conclude its investigation and to publish a report by mid-July, and reiterated the deadline after Friday’s meeting.

I don’t believe for one moment that Starmer and Co intended for the inquiry to be concluded ‘swiftly’. And I have no doubt whatsoever that Starmer (and ‘friends’) intended to apologise and pay ‘damages’ to John Ware and the so-called whistleblowers when the case began even BEFORE he was elected leader, AND, that they knew when the case would be coming up – as it WAS – on July 22nd, and they were hardly going to publish a report into the leaked report just prior to – or around the same time – as making an apology and paying substantial damages to Ware and the so-called whistleblowers. Or, alternatively, if the date of the case WASN’T known at the time the Forde Inquiry was set up, they ‘extended’ it as of learning when the case would come before the court!

“It’s hard to escape the conclusion the EHRC bent over backwards to frame its evidence in a way that would be as damaging as possible to Corbyn.”
This is what I call a frame-up. The disgraceful behaviour of Keir Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner in championing the EHRC report suggests a carefully choreographed process to ingratiate themselves with the most reactionary Zionist revisionist elements by making a sacrificial lamb of Corbyn and those of his supporters who are not prepared to go along with the frame-up. Playing to the gallery of mainstream corporate media that has spun the antisemitism narrative as part of the ideological war against Corbynism does not augur well for a Labour Party committed to meaningful economic and social change.

There is a report in Labour List concerning LP ex-officials who have been readmitted to the LP
https://labourlist.org/2021/02/ex-officials-suspended-over-leaked-report-have-been-readmitted-to-labour/

The Labour List report is Delphic to say the least – maybe because of on-going litigation? I am not sure what this portends – if anything – but am hoping that the Forde Report is published soon.