Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge has said she will not apologise for calling Jeremy Corbyn "'an antisemite and a racist'" to his face, after the party said doing so could end its investigation into the matter, while also claiming it had not "pre-judged" her case.
The MP has released further correspondence between her lawyers and party General Secretary Jennie Formby, in the latest development to the case, which has fuelled a growing standoff between the party and its Jewish MPs and supporters.
In the latest letters, Ms Formby suggests that, although the investigation into the Jewish MP has “not been pre-judged”, it would likely be dropped if Dame Margaret “gives…an appropriate apology for her conduct”.
Mischon de Reya, representing Dame Margaret, responded by accusing Ms Formby of having “yet again… demonstrated a fundamental lack of understanding of due process.”
The MP for Barking was notified last month that she was under official investigation by the Labour party, after she confronted Mr Corbyn in the House of Commons, after the party's ruling body adopted a code of conduct on Jew-hate that omitted key examples from the internationally recognised definition of antisemitism.
In a letter to Mishchon de Reya last week, Ms Formby also declined to set out “the full extent of the complaint” against the MP, but maintained that “there is no ‘threat’ against your client… the steps taken to date are entirely in accordance with the party’s rules and involve no breach of general principles of fairness or natural justice.”
But Mishon de Reya replied: “You claim that your investigation has not been pre-judged … but that investigation would be dropped if our client apologises. For our client to be forced into an apology, this would mean you have pre-determined she has done something wrong.
“This is all the more complicated by the fact that our client has already been reprimanded by the Chief Whip for her apparent behaviour in Parliament – with no opportunity to appeal or put her side of the story forward – and yet you still claim that your “fair” investigation stands into whether she has done something wrong.”
The letter to Ms Formby also notes that “our client does not accept your assessment (which has been rejected by the Jewish community) that the Labour party is 'making considerable efforts to address' the issue of antisemitism.
“Our client would have been very happy to discuss this issue with Mr Corbyn before their conversation in Parliament had he attended the discussion of the new code on antisemitism discussed at the PLP meeting on the evening of July 17. It is unfortunate that Mr Corbyn chose not to attend this meeting.”
Dame Margaret’s lawyers add: “Our client will not apologise in these circumstances, and rejects the basis for your claim that you have jurisdiction to continue with the investigation in the event that she does not apologise.”
In response to a further letter from Ms Formby sent on August 1, Dame Margaret’s lawyers went further, accusing Ms Formby of “making up the rules as you go, in order to punish our client for fair criticism of Mr Corbyn…
“Our client will not tolerate this threat of an investigation being hung over her head indefinitely. You have offered one way out: an apology. Our client will not apologise. Given this, you must now either proceed with the investigation, providing the information requested and a fair timetable, or you must unconditionally drop it.”
Dame Margaret tweeted the letter exchange out on Friday afternoon, saying: “I'm still no wiser as to what I'm accused of; the nature of complaints received; who the investigating officer is; or what the time-frame for the investigation will be.
“Is this fair?”
