JEWISH activists accused the Forde report today of being “extraordinarily uneven” in its assessment of anti-semitism in the Labour Party.

In its analysis of the report, the Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) said that its author, Martin Forde QC, seems to have been uninterested in the facts underlying claims of anti-semitism and counterclaims.

JVL chairwoman Jenny Manson said: “Defending yourself against what you believe to be unfounded allegations is not factional behaviour, it is what any self-respecting person does.

“Surely verifying the accuracy of any claims of anti-semitism is essential to determining whether it is being weaponised or not.

“But for that there have to be clear, transparent criteria of what is to count as anti-semitism.

“The vague illustrative examples in the IHRA [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] definition of what might count, are of no help — the ‘codes’ are internally contradictory.

"And the party fails in all cases to explain what it determined to be anti-semitic and why, in the many cases of people disciplined under the catch-all phrase ‘undermining the party’s ability to combat racism’.”

The group welcomed the report’s recognition that JVL should be involved in discussions on anti-semitism education. 

JVL said that it had been consistently arguing for and providing anti-semitism education based on good anti-racist and educational practice, where it has not been excluded from doing so.

The Forde inquiry was set up on May 1 2020 to investigate allegations of bullying, racism and sexism in an internal party report leaked a few weeks earlier. The inquiry’s conclusions were finally published on July 19.