On 1st March Monday, the High Court ruled that the alleged leakers of a controversial Labour report into its handling of antisemitism should not be named because it would risk harm to potentially innocent individuals.
The report included confidential details of staffers’ private conversations expressing hostility towards the former leader Jeremy Corbyn. The report, which was originally prepared for the equalities watchdog but never submitted, concluded that factional hostility towards Corbyn hampered the party’s efforts to tackle antisemitism.
Five anonymous individuals, represented by the trade union Unite, who deny any responsibility for the leak, were also represented at the hearing.
The case was brought by the former senior Labour staffer Emilie Oldknow, who had taken the party to court in an attempt to force it to disclose the identity of the leaker of the report, which contained hundreds of private WhatsApp messages. Oldknow has been ordered to pay the Labour party’s costs and has been refused permission to appeal.
