Scotland Yard has launched a criminal investigation into allegations of anti-Semitic hate crimes within the Labour Party.
It comes after Leading Britain’s Conversation (LBC) Radio obtained what it said was an internal Labour document detailing 45 cases, involving messages posted by members on social media.
Labour MP Margaret Hodge said the party should have notified the police itself.
“I think they have a duty of care to their members where there are allegations of race hate crimes.
“There is a feeling of fear about and that is why firm action taken by the police and party is so important.” She added.
The LBC showed the material to former Met police officer Mak Chishty, whose view was that 17 instances should have been reported to the police for investigation, and another four were potential race hate crimes.
LBC said the allegations included threats against members of Parliament, including a message on Facebook that a female Labour MP was a “Zionist extremist… who hates civilised people” and is “about to get a good kicking”.
It is understood Labour has not been contacted by the police and has not been told of the exact nature of the allegations being investigated.
The party is currently working through a backlog of cases regarding alleged anti-Semitism complaints against members.
