Labour attempted to gag a prominent Black barrister who authored a report which exposed a "hierarchy of racism" within the party, The Independent can reveal.
Martin Forde KC was warned he was "acting against the party's interest" in a letter sent by lawyers representing Labour after he gave an interview criticising its failure to engage with his recommendations.
Mr Forde said the exchange had left him "irritated", telling The Independent the party "can't silence me".
The Forde Report, an independent inquiry into the Labour's culture in 2022, found it was an “unwelcoming place for people of colour” and had a “toxic” culture of factional disputes between the party’s right and left.
After publication in March 2023, the lawyer gave an interview to Al Jazeera in which he said no one from Labour had been willing to discuss the recommendations further and highlighted concerns raised by ethnic minority politicians within Labour about racism in the party.
In response, it has now emerged the Labour Party sent Mr Forde a robust legal letter, seen by The Independent, accusing him of acting against the party’s interests and advising him it was “considering all of its options”.
Lawyers accused Mr Forde of “extensive negative and highly prejudicial comments” and questioned his professional conduct.
Speaking to The Independent this week, the respected lawyer said: “I don’t know if it was an attempt to silence me.
”I mean, they’ve couched it carefully along the lines of ‘we’re reminding you of your professional duties’ which I found mildly irritating because I am a regulatory lawyer, and I don’t like my professionalism or ethics being questioned, so that but, but so I felt it was more.
“I’m a private individual, they can’t silence me.”
“I fundamentally object to people saying to me ‘you don’t know how to behave as a professional’. I’m afraid that Black professionals get it all the time.”
The Forde report made 165 recommendations including the use of blind CVs in recruitment and changes to the complaints procedure, many of which the party says it has now implemented.
However, during his interview with Al-Jazeera, the barrister claimed Labour’s lack of debate and engagement over his findings at the time indicated wider concerns. He described Labour’s antisemitism training as “largely didatic, top down and one dimensional”.
The barrister also told the news outlet that “quite a high proportion of Black and Asian councillors or prospective MPs felt they’d been subjected to disciplinary action which had been deliberately timed to exclude them from qualifying processes or selection”.
On receipt of the legal complaint, Mr Forde responded via his own lawyers in a letter seen by The Independent which dismissed the accusations as “baseless”. He said he did not hear from Labour on the issue again.
Mr Forde said he read their correspondence as an indication they may report him to his regulatory body.
“I was surprised to receive those letters, and was also surprised by the tone and content, because I thought I had a sufficiently good working relationship with the general secretary for him simply to ask me what I’d said... “All he had to do was pick up the phone.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of purging the Labour left after selection rows over veteran MP Diane Abbott and Chingford and Woodford Green candidate Faiza Shaheen.
Ms Shaheen was dropped as a candidate over a series of likes on social media posts, while it was briefed that Ms Abbott, who had recently had the Labour whip restored after she suggested Jewish, Irish and Traveller people experience prejudice, but not racism, would be barred from standing for the party. She has now been allowed back in.
When asked what people might make of the correspondence from Labour in context of Ms Abbott and Ms Shaheen, Mr Forde added: “I am sure that people will definitely see it as a collateral attack on a Black professional.”
Mish Rahman, a member of Labour’s Nation Executive Committee (NEC), told The Independent he was disappointed by the letter to Mr Forde.
“This legal threat from the Labour Party to Mr Forde is consistent with the behaviour of Starmer’s Labour Party, which is intent on cracking down on any dissent or criticism rather than the actual perpetrators of racism,” he said.
“We also saw this in the party’s pursuit of those it believed had leaked evidence of racism and its defence of those who had made racist and bigoted comments.”
Mr Rahman claimed Mr Forde was invited to attend NEC meetings on several occasions, but Sir Keir and his general secretary refused to allow it: “As a member, I received countless correspondence from members about the delayed Forde Report into racism in the party.
“It is now clear as day that Forde was suppressed by Labour’s leadership and that they have attempted to cover up the reports disgraceful findings by stopping Forde from meeting the NEC.
“Under Keir’s leadership the party operates a hierarchy of racism where it doesn't take anti-Black racism and Islamophobia seriously and instead punishes those like Martin Forde KC and Faiza Shaheen who bring evidence of racism to light.
“The irony and double standards are astoundingly laid bare.”
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “The Labour Party is fully committed to tackling racist and discriminatory attitudes wherever they arise, within and outside the Party. Labour has apologised for the culture and attitudes expressed by senior staff that were examined by the Forde Report.
“We are proud the party has completed work on the recommendations made by Martin Forde and want to place on record, once again, our thanks to Martin for his hard work.
“Labour has introduced a new, independent complaints process, code of conduct on Afrophobia, anti-Black racism and Islamophobia and mandatory training for staff on Afrophobia and anti-Black racism.
“We are delighted that Labour has more Black candidates, and Black male candidates in particular, than ever before.”
The Independent also contacted Sir Keir Starmer’s office for comment.
These leaked documents were made available by Paul Holden, an investigative journalist whose book will be published at the end of this year.
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