The Why Project
← Antisemitism

Jeremy Corbyn & UK Labour

Leader of the UK Labour Party

Mixed

An EHRC report found Labour legally responsible for antisemitic harassment.

What happened

Years of antisemitism complaints within Labour under Corbyn — including his 2012 defense of an antisemitic mural — culminated in a 2020 Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) report finding the party legally responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and victimisation.

Under each definition

Above the frameworks sits a binding legal finding (the EHRC). On the conduct itself, IHRA flags specifics while the JDA and Nexus would protect much of the Israel criticism.
IHRAIHRA Working Definition
Antisemitic

Example 9 and related conduct (the mural, rhetoric) — reinforced by the EHRC’s formal finding of unlawful harassment.

JDAJerusalem Declaration
Contested

The JDA would protect much of the anti-Israel politics; how much of the conduct was anti-Jewish bigotry vs faction warfare is disputed.

NexusNexus Document
Contested

Some conduct is clearly antisemitic; much falls in Nexus’s protected anti-Israel zone.

3D testSharansky’s 3D Test
N/A

A pattern of conduct, not a single Israel-criticism statement to test.

Who called it antisemitic

The EHRC (a statutory body), the Jewish Labour Movement, and the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

The defense

Corbyn said antisemitism was real but “dramatically overstated for political reasons,” and pointed to his anti-racist record. He was suspended from Labour over that response.

Outcome

The EHRC finding was a landmark; Corbyn was suspended from the party and later barred from standing as a Labour candidate.

In their words

Called it antisemitic
The Labour Party made a commitment to zero tolerance for antisemitism. Our investigation has highlighted multiple areas where its approach and leadership to tackling antisemitism was insufficient.
Caroline WatersInterim Chair, Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)EHRC
Called it antisemitic
This report is a damning verdict on what Labour did to Jews under Jeremy Corbyn and his allies. It proves why British Jews were so distressed and it disgraces those who attacked us for speaking out against anti-Jewish racism.
Marie van der ZylPresident, Board of Deputies of British Jews (joint statement with the JLC and CST)Board of Deputies
The subject
One antisemite is one too many, but the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media.
Jeremy CorbynFormer Labour Party leader (the accused)The Guardian
Defended it
An act of grave injustice which, if not reversed, will create chaos within the party and in doing so compromise Labour’s chances of a general election victory.
Len McCluskeyGeneral Secretary, Unite union (on Corbyn’s suspension)BBC News

The verdicts above are how each framework would most likely treat this case — illustrative guidance, not official rulings. The 3D test applies only to Israel-related cases, so it reads “N/A” elsewhere. See the Definition tab for each framework’s full text. Inclusion is documentation, not a finding.