Labour has stumped up a reported £2million after settling claims brought by 20 people featured in a leaked internal document about anti-Semitism in the party.
The cases have been settled after the group of mainly ex-employees took action over alleged defamation or the unauthorised use of personal data.
Subsequent payouts will total just under £1million but, with Labour paying both sides’ legal fees, the overall bill will be close to £2million, according to The Guardian.
The controversial 860-page document was produced under Jeremy Corbyn‘s leadership of Labour and contained private email and WhatsApp messages.
The report claimed factional hostility towards Mr Corbyn hampered Labour’s efforts to tackle anti-Semitism during his leadership.
It was originally intended to be submitted to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) inquiry into Labour’s approach to dealing with anti-Jewish hate.
The unredacted document was leaked in April 2020, shortly after Sir Keir Starmer succeeded Mr Corbyn as Labour leader.
The settlements are said to include a payout to the party’s former elections chief, Patrick Heneghan.
The controversial 860-page document was produced under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of Labour and contained private email and WhatsApp messages
Mr Corbyn and Sir Keir Starmer, who succeeded him as Labour leader, in November 2019
He was allegedly falsely accused in the dossier of having tried to sabotage Mr Corbyn’s chances of winning the 2017 general election.
The document was also said to have defamed Josh Stolliday, a former director of Labour’s governance and legal unit.
He reportedly took action over the leak of private messages and ‘false and damaging’ claims that he tried to obstruct action on anti-Semitism in order to undermine Mr Corbyn.
It is understood the claims were settled prior to last year’s general election, although the details have only emerged now.
The total legal costs for Labour connected to the dossier is now estimated at more than £4million.
Court documents previously revealed Labour spent about £2.4million on its own abandoned lawsuit against five former staffers accused of leaking the internal report.
Martin Forde QC was chosen by Labour to chair an inquiry into the ‘circumstances, contents and release’ of the dossier in 2020.
He found that both Labour’s left and right wings treated the issue of anti-Semitism as a ‘factional weapon’ when Mr Corbyn was leader.
A Labour spokesman said: ‘The Party welcomes the resolution of this matter.’
