The Owen Jones Podcast

After the leaked Labour report revealed damning truths about the behaviour of the party's Right, Keir Starmer commissioned leading barrister Martin Forde to conduct a report. Some - myself included - feared a whitewash: but the conclusions were damning, including on factionalism and perceptions of a hierarchy of racism. But Labour have almost entirely failed to engage with Forde over his report - and now he's broken his silence.

We speak to Richard Sanders - one of the makers of Al Jazeera's 'Labour Files' - and award winning investigative journalist Peter Oborne.

Please read alongside this episode:

In July 2020, the Labour party apologised 'unreservedly' and paid a six figure sum to 7 former Labour employees and the BBC journalist who made the 2019 Panorama programme 'Is Labour Anti-Semitic'.

Labour said: 'The Labour party is here today to publicly set the record straight, and to apologise to the claimants for the distress and embarrassment it has caused them.'

To the BBC journalist: 'The defendant is here to set the record straight and to apologise unreservedly to Mr Ware.'

Al-Jazeera was also told: 'The BBC told us it stands by its reporting. John Ware said that he did not recognise Mr Forde's characterisation of his communications. He described Mr Forde's criticisms of Panorama as misleading and inaccurate. Mr Ware also said that Ben Westerman claimed that the 'are you from Israel' comment was made at the end of his meeting with Rica Bird and was not therefore recorded.