An attempt by a former senior official from the UK Labour Party to reveal the identities of the people who leaked the party's internal antisemitism report was rejected by Britain's High Court as it could risk harm to the individuals, the Guardian reported on Monday.
The request to reveal the names was filed by former senior Labour staffer Emilie Oldknow, who has been ordered to pay the Labour Party's legal fees.
The judge ruled that the request "smacks of a fishing expedition, so that the claimant can cast around to identify potential defendants” to sue and that there was "a real risk that the order sought by the claimant… will release the names of innocent persons," according to the newspaper.
Oldknow's lawyer stated that the party had kept her "unjustly in the dark" about its conclusions from its investigation into the leak of the internal report. The judge replied that while Labour's investigation had identified probable suspects, there are two other ongoing investigations into the matter which could unearth new information.
In the 860-page leaked internal report about antisemitism in Labour compiled under former party leader Jeremy Corbyn, the British party said it had “no evidence” of biased handling of complaints or staff “motivated by antisemitic intent.”
The document, which was obtained by Sky News, is an extension of the party line under Corbyn, where it acknowledged certain errors in handling complaints about antisemitism but rejected allegations that Labour was institutionally antisemitic, as Corbyn’s critics from the Jewish community and beyond have claimed.
There was a lack of “robust processes, systems, training, education and effective line management,” according to the leaked report, and “abundant evidence of a hyper-factional atmosphere prevailing in Party HQ” toward Corbyn that “affected the expeditious and resolute handling of disciplinary complaints.”
The report was intended to be submitted as an annex to an inquiry by Britain's Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) over allegations of institutional antisemitism. Following an intervention by Labour's lawyers, however, the report was never submitted.
Among the ways Labour plans to make itself more welcoming to Jews and members of other minority groups is to establish an independent investigation process for complaints of antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination.
In addition, external lawyers will be hired to advise on antisemitism hearings, and the party will also move to address backlogged antisemitism cases.