Timeline of events leading to this point:

The past five years have unfortunately been littered with incidents, denials and debates about antisemitism that should have had no place in the Labour Party. Here are some key events to remember from 2015 onwards that have taken us to where we are today. This is clearly not an exhaustive list. We could have chosen thousands of examples to highlight the extent of the problem but this is a list of key examples that help to paint a picture of antisemitism in the Labour Party from 2015-today.

12/09/2015 Jeremy Corbyn elected Leader of the Labour Party

27/04/2016 Naz Shah suspended for making antisemitic comments

28/04/2016 Ken Livingstone suspended after Hitler remarks

18/05/2016 Royall Report: antisemitic behaviour at Oxford University Labour Club

30/06/2016 Shami Chakrabarti report released, Ruth Smeeth faces abuse at launch

05/08/2016 Shami Chakrabarti handed a peerage

16/10/2016 Corbyn criticised in Home Affairs Select Committee Report

05/04/2017 Ken Livingstone suspended for one year despite all charges being found proven

26/09/2017 Rule change proposed by JLM to tackle discrimination in the Labour Party passes at Labour Party conference

26/09/2017 Len McCluskey says “I believe it [antisemitism in the Labour Party] was mood music that was created by people who were trying to undermine Jeremy Corbyn”

16/01/2018 Christine Shawcroft becomes Chair of Labour Disputes Panel

18/03/2018 Birkenhead CLP refuses antisemitism training from JLM over ‘possible links to ISIS’

23/03/2018 Pressure put on Jeremy Corbyn by Luciana Berger to explain defence of Mear One antisemitic mural

26/03/2018 ‘Enough is Enough’ rally held outside Parliament calling on Labour to stamp out antisemitism from the Party

29/03/2018 Christine Shawcroft resigns as Chair of Labour Disputes Panel for blocking the suspension of member accused of Holocaust denial 

24/04/2018 Jewish Leadership Council and Board of Deputies call meeting with Corbyn ‘disappointing’ after failing to agree to any concrete actions

03/07/2018 The Organisational Sub-Committee of Labour’s NEC agree a new Code of Conduct on antisemitism, removing parts of the IHRA definition

05/07/2018 New Code of Conduct slammed by Jewish Labour Movement, calling for it to be abandoned and for the full IHRA definition to be continued to be used

16/07/2018 68 rabbis call on the Labour Party to adopt the full IHRA definition and all 11 examples

17/07/2018 Labour NEC rejects IHRA definition of antisemitism

18/07/2018 Margaret Hodge calls Jeremy Corbyn ‘a racist and an antisemite’, prompts investigation into her conduct

29/07/2018 Ian Austin also put under investigation after raising issue of antisemitism to Labour Party Chair

31/07/2018 Peter Willsman calls 68 rabbis ‘Trump fanatics’ during Labour NEC meeting

05/08/2018 JLM activists barred from Labour’s Antisemitism Working Group meeting

06/08/2018 Labour eventually drop Margaret Hodge investigation after outcry from key Labour figures

11/08/2018 Reports emerge of Corbyn laying a wreath at graves of Munich terrorists

20/08/2018 JLM cease to run antisemitism training after Labour Party censors material

24/08/2018 Footage emerges of Jeremy Corbyn speech in 2013, remarking that Zionists ‘don’t understand English irony’

03/09/2018 Peter Willsman re-elected to Labour’s NEC

04/09/2018 Labour NEC eventually adopts IHRA definition in full, despite attempts from Jeremy Corbyn to add an accompanying clarification

November 2018 JLM refers the Labour Party to the Equality and Human Rights Commission

27/11/2018 No formal action taken against Ian Austin despite warning on future conduct

01/02/2019 Jeremy Corbyn says Chris Williamson is ‘not antisemitic in any way’

18/02/2019 Luciana Berger forced to quit the Labour Party, citing the levels of antisemitic abuse received 

27/02/2019 Chris Williamson suspended by the Labour Party after saying Labour Party were ‘too apologetic’ over antisemitism

06/03/2019 JLM votes to stay affiliated to the Labour Party but puts the Party “on its last warning.”

27/03/2019 Jackie Walker expelled from the Labour Party two and a half years after making offensive comments at a JLM training session 

07/04/2019 JLM passes vote of no confidence in Jeremy Corbyn, calling him unfit to be Prime Minister at JLM Conference

28/05/2019 EHRC launches formal investigation into the Labour Party over allegations of antisemitism

31/05/2019 Peter Willsman suspended

27/06/2019 Chris Williamson allowed back into the Labour Party following suspension

10/07/2019 Panorama documentary aired: ‘Is Labour anti-semitic?’ Includes interviews with whistleblowers and claims that Jennie Formby deleted emails relating to antisemitism cases

02/10/2019 Louise Ellman MP faces no confidence motion from her CLP on Yom Kippur (the holiest day in the Jewish religious calendar

31/10/2019 JLM states it will only campaign in exceptional circumstances in the 2019 General Election

05/12/2019 JLM confirms leaked version of JLM EHRC submission is an accurate version

04/04/2020 Keir Starmer elected Leader of the Labour Party

26/06/2020 Keir Starmer sacks Rebecca Long-Bailey from the Shadow Cabinet for sharing article that contained an antisemitic conspiracy theory

13/07/2020 Labour receives draft copy of EHRC Report, has 28 days to respond

22/07/2020 Labour apologises and pays damages to Party staff whistleblowers