UK Labour won’t sanction MP who called party’s anti-Semitism policy a ‘disgrace’

The British Labour Party will not take action against an MP who has been accused of swearing at party chairman Ian Lavery during a “heated discussion” about Labour’s failure to tackle anti-Semitism.

Ian Austin, the adopted child of a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany, had been potentially facing disciplinary action and possible suspension from the party. The inquiry against him was initiated in July.

Eventually, the party decided to formally reprimand him for his behavior and warn him about his future conduct, but not suspend him or take any other action, UK media reports, citing a Labour source.

In July, Austin wrote that he felt “shocked and ashamed” at his party’s failure to tackle anti-Semitism among its members, in an opinion piece in the Guardian newspaper. He had also criticized as a “disgrace” the party’s reluctance to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition in full, a step that was eventually taken in September.

–– Michael Bachner