PEOPLE AND CULTURE

NEWS

Equality watchdog concludes monitoring of Labour Party

20 Feb 2023

    • The Labour Party has made the changes required by its agreed action plan to address breaches of the Equality Act, says Britain’s equality regulator.

    On 29 October 2020, the Equality and Human Rights Commission served the Labour Party with an unlawful act notice, after its investigation into antisemitism found the Party responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination.

    As a result, the Labour Party was obliged to produce an action plan to prevent continuation or reoccurrence of those unlawful acts, which was legally enforceable by the court if not fulfilled.

    The action plan concluded on 31 January 2023.

    Britain’s equality regulator has now confirmed that it is content with the actions taken and has concluded its work with the Party.

    Marcial Boo, Chief Executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said:

    "All organisations, whether they are firms, charities or public bodies, have a duty to protect their members and employees. Britain’s equality laws apply to them all. Those organisations in the public eye have a particular responsibility to comply with the law, and to set high standards in tackling discrimination, including all forms of racism. In October 2020, following a thorough investigation of the UK Labour Party that found unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination, we made detailed recommendations to ensure that the Party adheres to equality law.

    “We have reviewed progress with the agreed action plan since then. On 31 January 2023, we concluded our monitoring as we were satisfied that the Party had implemented the necessary actions to improve its complaints, recruitment, training and other procedures to the legal standards required. This will help to protect current and future Labour Party members from discrimination and harassment. No organisation is above the law. Every employer and every public body must take active steps to address racism and all other forms of illegal discrimination. We are pleased that our investigation and action plan has had the desired impact in this case.”