EHRC Enquiry into Antisemitism in the Labour Party

There is a short piece here by a former senior official of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) describing what the effect of an investigation , such as that recently launched into the Labour Party would be.  Some points he makes are:

• The decision to go to pre-action correspondence is itself significant and probably only comes after examining a considerable amount of evidence that there is a case to answer.
• The first stage is suggesting a satisfactory internal review.  This perhaps lies behind the suggestion that Lord Falconer undertake a role.  The EHRC decision to make its own enquiry seems to make his role somewhat redundant, since their powers would be far wider as Lord Falconer has acknowledged. 
• The test for a finding of "discriminatory practice" is balance of probabilities.
• In the event of such a finding, the remedy can be enforced through "a range of options ... including unlawful act notices that would require the Labour party to undertake compulsory changes to stop unlawful activity."
• He suggests that an agreed process is the best option left from a Labour Party perspective.

This is what happened in Brent Council when it had major problems with racism allegations some 20 years ago.  In those days the relevant body was the Commission for Racial Equality, and a plan to deal with the problems was agreed.  The agreement led to a significant improvement in race relations at the Council leading to a falling off in accusations of racial discrimination amidst the work force.

This presumably behind John McDonnell's reported welcoming of the investigation, although the suggestion in the Sunday Times yesterday that the LATO was intervening in specific cases was presumably not so welcome.  

The first stage in sorting out a problem is to recognise its existence.