An internal Labour inquiry launched by Keir Starmer will put senior party officials under the spotlight and probe whether a “racist, sexist and other discriminatory culture” exists in party workplaces.
The terms of reference of the inquiry, which is set to report by July, were drawn up at a meeting of the party’s ruling National Executive Committee last week and released today.
The inquiry was launched by the party’s incoming leadership after a leaked internal report appeared to show senior officials working to undermine the party’s electoral chances out of factional hostility to Jeremy Corbyn.
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The terms of reference of the inquiry into the report will first of all examine “the truth or otherwise of the main allegations in the report”.
The NEC said that that “the Panel shall determine which are the most significant allegations which require investigation but they shall include the extent of racist, sexist and other discriminatory culture within Labour Party workplaces, the attitudes and conduct of the senior staff of the Labour Party, and their relationships with the elected leadership of the Labour Party”.
Emails and WhatsApp chat logs appear to show senior officials using abusive language about some colleagues and activists, as well as willing the party to lose.
Some Labour figures, including Unite general secretary Len McCluskey, have suggested allegations in the report that funds were channeled to support MPs from the Labour’s right wing might represent a misuse of party funds.
The panel, which has not yet been chosen, will secondly be asked to look into “the background and circumstances on which the report was commissioned, written, and circulated within the Labour party” and the purpose for which it was commissioned and ultimately leaked.
The dossier was reportedly commissioned by party general secretary Jenny Formby to look at the party’s handling of antisemitism complaints and claims that factional hostility in the party to the leadership undermined the workings of the organisation’s bureaucracy.
1/50 27 April 2020
A medical specialist walks out of a mobile laboratory, which is carrying out coronavirus tests
Reuters
2/50 26 April 2020
People wearing protective face masks practice social distancing as they pray outside a church in Kiev near the memorial dedicated to firefighters and workers who died after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, on the 34th anniversary of the event
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15/50 13 April 2020
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16/50 12 April 2020
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28/50 31 March 2020
Wedding dress and evening wear designer Friederike Jorzig adjusts a mannequin wearing a wedding dress with matching protective mask in her store Chiton in Berlin
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29/50 30 March 2020
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Getty
30/50 29 March 2020
A man watches a TV screen showing a file image of North Korea’s missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul
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31/50 28 March 2020
Hong Kong’s skyline is seen with some of its lights turned off to mark the Earth Hour, an environmental campaign
AFP/Getty
32/50 27 March 2020
Ukrainian citizens queue at the Polish-Ukrainian border during the coronavirus pandemic in Korczowa, Poland. On 13 March, Poland closed its borders due to the ongoing pandemic of the Covid-19 and has extended the measure until at least 11 April
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33/50 26 March 2020
Tenon hospital emergency services staff members gesture during a break, on March 26, 2020 in Paris, as the country is under lockdown to stop the spread of Covid-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
AFP via Getty
34/50 25 March 2020
Aerial view showing almost empty streets in Bogota, taken during the lockdown ordered by the government to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus
AFP via Getty
35/50 24 March 2020
Staff members line up to attention as they prepare to spray disinfectant at Wuhan Railway Station. China announced that a lockdown would be lifted on more than 50 million people in central Hubei province where the Covid-19 coronavirus first emerged late last year
AFP via Getty
36/50 23 March 2020
A public order agency officer sprays disinfectant over a woman before she enters a local government office as a precautionary move against the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus in Surabaya
AFP via Getty
37/50 22 March 2020
Boys wearing protective and N95 masks play with a football outside their homes in Gaza City
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38/50 21 March 2020
A woman standing on her balcony reaches out to catch a rose delivered to her via a drone on Mother’s day, in the Lebanese coastal city of Jounieh, north of the capital Beirut, as people remain indoors in an effort to limit the spread of coronavirus. In a quiet Lebanese town under lockdown over the novel coronavirus, a drone buzzed towards a balcony on Saturday to deliver a red rose to a mother grinning in surprise. The COVID-19 pandemic may have put a damper on Mother’s Day this year, but three students have come up with a novel service to celebrate the occasion without flouting social distancing restrictions
AFP via Getty
39/50 20 March 2020
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40/50 19 March 2020
Members of a medical assistance team from Jiangsu province chant slogans at a ceremony marking their departure after helping with the Covid-19 coronavirus recovery effort, in Wuhan. Medical teams from across China began leaving Wuhan this week after the number of new coronavirus infections dropped. China on reported no new domestic cases for the first time since it started recording them in January, but recorded a spike in infections from abroad
AFP via Getty
41/50 18 March 2020
Sri Lankan police wear face masks a rehearsal parade in Colombo
AFP via Getty
42/50 17 March 2020
Divers clean and swipe the floor and walls of a pool at an aquatic complex in Medellin after the closure of all sporting venues in Colombia as a preventive measure against the spread of the Covid-19
AFP via Getty
43/50 16 March 2020
Workers spray disinfectant as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus at the Mubarikiya market following the outbreak of coronavirus, in Kuwait City
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44/50 15 March 2020
People gather with their belongings at the scene of the fire outbreak at Abule-Ado in Lagos, Nigeria
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45/50 14 March 2020
A man feeds pidgeons at Cataluna Square in Barcelona
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46/50 13 March 2020
A mosso de esquadra police officer stands on the closed off road near Igualada, Spain. Over 60,000 people awoke Friday in four towns near Barcelona confined to their homes and with police blocking roads. The order by regional authorities in Catalonia is Spain’s first mandatory lockdown as Covid-19 coronavirus infections increase sharply
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47/50 12 March 2020
Italian mechanics Giacomo and Alessandro pose at their garage in Rome, as Italy shut all stores except for pharmacies and food shops in a desperate bid to halt the spread of a coronavirus that has killed 827 in the the country in just over two weeks
AFP via Getty
48/50 11 March 2020
Monks pray for victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster during a memorial service on the coast in Iwaki, Fukushima. Japan marked the ninth anniversary of the killer tsunami that triggered the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, but fears about the new coronavirus forced a scaling back of public commemorations
Jiji Press/AFP via Getty
49/50 10 March 2020
Revellers dance as they celebrate Holi, the spring festival of colours in Allahabad
AFP/Getty
50/50 9 March 2020
Medical staff celebrate after all patients were discharged at a temporary hospital set up to treat people with the COVID-19 coronavirus in Wuhan in China
AFP/Getty
1/50 27 April 2020
A medical specialist walks out of a mobile laboratory, which is carrying out coronavirus tests
Reuters
2/50 26 April 2020
People wearing protective face masks practice social distancing as they pray outside a church in Kiev near the memorial dedicated to firefighters and workers who died after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, on the 34th anniversary of the event
Reuters
3/50 25 April 2020
Surfers walk during a sunrise at Recreio dos Bandeirantes beach, amid the coronavirus outbreak, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Reuters
4/50 24 April 2020
Inmates from Villa Devoto prison take part in a riot demanding measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus after a case was confirmed inside the prison, in Buenos Aires
AFP via Getty
5/50 23 April 2020
The cruise ship Ruby Princess departs from Port Kembla, south of Sydney, , after a few hundred virus-free crew members disembarked to begin the process of repatriation to their home countries
AFP/Getty
6/50 22 April 2020
An activist performs on the roof during Earth Day in Wroclaw, Poland
Agencja Gazeta via Reuters
7/50 21 April 2020
Malaysian army personnel set up barbed wire in the locked down area of Selayang wholesale market in Kuala Lumpur
EPA
8/50 20 April 2020
A trader walks inside a pen as he arrives to purchase vegetables and fruits at the Agricultural Produce Market Committee market in Navi Mumbai during the nationwide lockdown
AFP via Getty
9/50 19 April 2020
A bride, poses for a wedding photographer next to East Lake in Wuhan
AFP via Getty
10/50 18 April 2020
People shout at police officers during a demonstration of conspiracy theorists as other demonstrators protest against the lockdown imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus in Berlin
Reuters
11/50 17 April 2020
A pair of rare morepork owl chicks have become the first in more than a decade to survive on Norfolk Island, in the South Pacific
Parks Australia/Monash University
12/50 16 April 2020
A squirrel runs across a fence as the sun shines in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district
AFP via Getty
13/50 15 April 2020
Election officials count after general election voting in Seoul, South Korea
EPA
14/50 14 April 2020
Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, which was damaged in a devastating fire one year ago today
Reuters
15/50 13 April 2020
Wild bluebells, which bloom around mid-April turning the forest blue as they form a carpet, pictured in the Hallerbos in Belgium
Reuters
16/50 12 April 2020
Pope Francis delivers his Urbi et Orbi message following Easter Sunday Mass behind closed doors at St Peter’s Basilica in The Vatican, during the country’s lockdown
Vatican media/AFP via Getty
17/50 11 April 2020
A man watches Krakatau spewing ash during an eruption, in Serang, Indonesia’s Banten province
AFP via Getty
18/50 10 April 2020
Women queue for distribution of food for those suffering under Kenya’s coronavirus-related movement restrictions
AP
19/50 9 April 2020
Firefighter Sittiporn Singthong, dressed up as Spider-Man, sprays disinfectant at the Wat Tha Mai Buddhist temple in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand
EPA
20/50 8 April 2020
Tulip fields in Plomeur, western France
AFP via Getty
21/50 7 April 2020
A employee and a resident of the house for the elderly “De Ravenstein” react as nurses dance and sing in the garden, following the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Boortmeerbeek, Belgium
Reuters
22/50 6 April 2020
A man stands in the balcony of his home with the moon in the background in Cali, Colombia
AFP via Getty
23/50 5 April 2020
A man holds a traditional lamp from the balcony of his house as torches and candles illuminate houses and high rise residential buildings as Indians mark the country’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic a suburb of New Delhi, India
AP
24/50 4 April 2020
Medical staff load an infected patient into an ambulance at the Nimes air base, south of France, during an evacuation operation from the hard-hit east of the country where hospitals are overwhelmed
AFP
25/50 3 April 2020
A man prays inside the closed Moussawi Grand Mosque in Basra
AFP via Getty
26/50 2 April 2020
A City Hall health official wearing a protective suit sprays disinfectant at the entrance of City One condominium as the residential building was placed under lockdown after 17 cases of COVID-19 were detected, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
EPA
27/50 1 April 2020
Migrant workers wait on marked areas on the ground to maintain social distancing as they queue to receive food packets at an industrial area during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the Covid-19 coronavirus, in Chennai
AFP via Getty
28/50 31 March 2020
Wedding dress and evening wear designer Friederike Jorzig adjusts a mannequin wearing a wedding dress with matching protective mask in her store Chiton in Berlin
AFP via Getty
29/50 30 March 2020
A stray dog walks in front of an empty historic India Gate, as nationwide lockdown continues over the coronavirus in New Delhi, India
Getty
30/50 29 March 2020
A man watches a TV screen showing a file image of North Korea’s missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul
AP
31/50 28 March 2020
Hong Kong’s skyline is seen with some of its lights turned off to mark the Earth Hour, an environmental campaign
AFP/Getty
32/50 27 March 2020
Ukrainian citizens queue at the Polish-Ukrainian border during the coronavirus pandemic in Korczowa, Poland. On 13 March, Poland closed its borders due to the ongoing pandemic of the Covid-19 and has extended the measure until at least 11 April
EPA
33/50 26 March 2020
Tenon hospital emergency services staff members gesture during a break, on March 26, 2020 in Paris, as the country is under lockdown to stop the spread of Covid-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
AFP via Getty
34/50 25 March 2020
Aerial view showing almost empty streets in Bogota, taken during the lockdown ordered by the government to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus
AFP via Getty
35/50 24 March 2020
Staff members line up to attention as they prepare to spray disinfectant at Wuhan Railway Station. China announced that a lockdown would be lifted on more than 50 million people in central Hubei province where the Covid-19 coronavirus first emerged late last year
AFP via Getty
36/50 23 March 2020
A public order agency officer sprays disinfectant over a woman before she enters a local government office as a precautionary move against the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus in Surabaya
AFP via Getty
37/50 22 March 2020
Boys wearing protective and N95 masks play with a football outside their homes in Gaza City
AFP via Getty
38/50 21 March 2020
A woman standing on her balcony reaches out to catch a rose delivered to her via a drone on Mother’s day, in the Lebanese coastal city of Jounieh, north of the capital Beirut, as people remain indoors in an effort to limit the spread of coronavirus. In a quiet Lebanese town under lockdown over the novel coronavirus, a drone buzzed towards a balcony on Saturday to deliver a red rose to a mother grinning in surprise. The COVID-19 pandemic may have put a damper on Mother’s Day this year, but three students have come up with a novel service to celebrate the occasion without flouting social distancing restrictions
AFP via Getty
39/50 20 March 2020
Newlyweds Diego Fernandes, 46 and Deni Salgado, 30, kiss through protective face masks at a wedding ceremony with only witnesses and no guests, as public gatherings are banned as part of Italy’s lockdown measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease in Naples
Reuters
40/50 19 March 2020
Members of a medical assistance team from Jiangsu province chant slogans at a ceremony marking their departure after helping with the Covid-19 coronavirus recovery effort, in Wuhan. Medical teams from across China began leaving Wuhan this week after the number of new coronavirus infections dropped. China on reported no new domestic cases for the first time since it started recording them in January, but recorded a spike in infections from abroad
AFP via Getty
41/50 18 March 2020
Sri Lankan police wear face masks a rehearsal parade in Colombo
AFP via Getty
42/50 17 March 2020
Divers clean and swipe the floor and walls of a pool at an aquatic complex in Medellin after the closure of all sporting venues in Colombia as a preventive measure against the spread of the Covid-19
AFP via Getty
43/50 16 March 2020
Workers spray disinfectant as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus at the Mubarikiya market following the outbreak of coronavirus, in Kuwait City
EPA
44/50 15 March 2020
People gather with their belongings at the scene of the fire outbreak at Abule-Ado in Lagos, Nigeria
Reuters
45/50 14 March 2020
A man feeds pidgeons at Cataluna Square in Barcelona
EPA
46/50 13 March 2020
A mosso de esquadra police officer stands on the closed off road near Igualada, Spain. Over 60,000 people awoke Friday in four towns near Barcelona confined to their homes and with police blocking roads. The order by regional authorities in Catalonia is Spain’s first mandatory lockdown as Covid-19 coronavirus infections increase sharply
AP
47/50 12 March 2020
Italian mechanics Giacomo and Alessandro pose at their garage in Rome, as Italy shut all stores except for pharmacies and food shops in a desperate bid to halt the spread of a coronavirus that has killed 827 in the the country in just over two weeks
AFP via Getty
48/50 11 March 2020
Monks pray for victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster during a memorial service on the coast in Iwaki, Fukushima. Japan marked the ninth anniversary of the killer tsunami that triggered the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, but fears about the new coronavirus forced a scaling back of public commemorations
Jiji Press/AFP via Getty
49/50 10 March 2020
Revellers dance as they celebrate Holi, the spring festival of colours in Allahabad
AFP/Getty
50/50 9 March 2020
Medical staff celebrate after all patients were discharged at a temporary hospital set up to treat people with the COVID-19 coronavirus in Wuhan in China
AFP/Getty
The terms of reference also say that the “structure, culture and practices” of the Labour organisation “including the relationship between senior party staff and the elected leadership” of the party will be looked into “as the panel think appropriate having regard to their investigation as a whole”.
A spokesperson for the Labour Party said: “The National Executive Committee agreed last week the terms of reference for the independent investigation into the circumstances, contents and release of an internal report. The NEC will meet again in due course to agree the individuals who will be appointed to lead the investigation.”
