Labour dismiss complaint against Joan Ryan MP over Al Jazeera series
The Labour Friends of Israel chief was cleared by the party's compliance unit following the controversial documentary
Justin Cohen is the News Editor at the Jewish News
Labour has dismissed a complaint against its MP Joan Ryan after she was secretly filmed for an undercover Al Jazeera series, Jewish News has learnt.
The party’s compliance unit this week said the Labour Friends of Israel chair was not in breach of party rules over a complaint related to footage from the Labour Party conference while she was at the LFI stand.
One episode of The Lobby, She was seen being pressed by pro-Palestinian activist Jean Fitzpatrick about what LFI is doing to promote a two-state solution.
The latter suggests LFI has a lot of money and prestige and she’d heard it could be “a stepping stone to good jobs” – with Ryan suggesting her words resembled an anti-Semitic trope. However, when she as later shown shown relating the episode to a colleague, the MP incorrectly said Fitzpatrick claimed working at LFI could result in a job at a bank.
Following the broadcast, Ryan said the report she made about the incident to the party made no reference to banking but defended the complaint, saying such language “appeared to me to evoke anti-Semitic tropes”. She claimed the programme sought to belittle problems with anti-Semitism in the party.
Following a complaint against Ryan, the party’s governance unit said it would not be launching an investigation. They said the documentary would not be the basis for a probe “as its authorship is unknown, it is undertaken through covert means, and the editing of the footage is unknown in terms of what was left out.
“The context of how, when and where the specific offending comments were made confirm the view that Ms Ryan’s comments did not constitute a breach of party rules.”
The party previously dismissed a complaint against Jewish Labour Movement director Ella Rose in relation to her conduct in the undercover series, which is now the subject of an OFCOM probe.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
