worked pro bono as Counsel to this Inquiry. Her expertise as a senior public and human rights lawyer
has been invaluable.
Thanks also to the countless individuals and groups within and beyond the Labour Party who
suspended their scepticism of politics, people or inquiries to engage with my daunting task and create
hope and energy for change.
But for the avoidance of doubt, and as a message to any political mischief-maker seeking to undermine
the good faith or credentials of my team, this Report is mine, and mine alone, and I will take
responsibility for it. In a democracy, it may be right and natural that opponents of the Labour Party
scoff at or undermine this open-hearted work. This Report is for the political descendants of Keir
Hardie, Ellen Wilkinson, Emanuel Shinwell and Learie Constantine, irrespective of race, religion, sex,
sexuality or other badge of identity. If you have felt remotely sad or frustrated in recent months or
years, if you worry about whether you still belong in your instinctive political home, please read on.
Equally, if you feel that antisemitism or other racism is going to be manipulated by a hostile media, or
by political rivals to silence your legitimate concerns about the world, this Report and our work is for
you.
The Chair
I am a human rights activist. I am also a lawyer, a former civil servant, Londoner and British Asian. My
parents came to the capital in the late 1950s having witnessed bitter sectarianism (including violence)
in a recently partitioned India. I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s in North West London. So far away
from their original families, my parents created their own community of friends and neighbours from
all over the world. Inevitably, the picture was not perfect. They were subject to a violent racist attack
as they walked with me in my pram on Hampstead Heath. Some of their neighbours told them to "go
home". Their Jewish friends (descended from earlier phases of migration to the UK) were amongst
their best and most welcoming. Years later, as the Director of Liberty (the National Council for Civil
Liberties) during "the War on Terror", I was often (especially on social media) described as a Muslim
terrorist sympathiser. I never denied the Muslim label.
The Terms of Reference
The terms of reference, set out above, formed the basis of this undertaking from the very outset. I say
this finally to deal with rumours that "other forms of racism" were a late addition and somehow
intended to dilute concerns around antisemitism. This is far from the truth. In my view, the terms are
as they should be for three important reasons.
Firstly, my clear view is th