Jeremy Corbyn has attacked Jewish MP Dame Margaret Hodge for recording their meeting to discuss Labour antisemitism, calling it a "total breach of trust and privacy".
Mr Corbyn wrote to her to respond to accusations he “misled” her in a meeting last week when he said his office had not been involved in antisemitism disciplinary cases, claiming members of his team had been asked “for advice on a small number of cases” last year.
This was after the Observer and the Times revealed this week that last year people working in Mr Corbyn’s office had been asked for guidance on antisemitism cases.
In at least one case, one Corbyn staffer advised the head of the complaints unit not to proceed with plans to suspend a member being investigated for alleged Jew-hate.
Dame Margaret demanded to know why Mr Corbyn had "made it clear in our discussion that your office plays no part in the complaints process”.
“I distinctly remember it being said that it would be appalling if staff in the leader’s office intervened or had a role in complaints. I was given categorical assurances that this does not happen and has never happened," she wrote to him earlier this week.
“However, it is clear… that your staff did intervene and have had a direct role in complaints.”
But in his response, Mr Corbyn hit out at Dame Margaret for recording the encounter, which she revealed she had done during a radio interview.
“Neither me nor my staff were informed that you intended to record the meeting, my permission was not sought, nor granted. I consider this to be a total breach of trust and privacy,” he wrote.
He also said he had “looked into" Dame Margaret's complaint.
“It would appear that during the transition between Iain McNicol’s departure and Jennie Formby taking over [as General Secretary of Labour], a very small group of staff in the Leader’s office were approached by now former GLU [Governance and Legal Unit] staff members at head office and were asked for help in clearing a backlog of cases," he told her.
"This help included a clear request for advice on a small number of cases.
“In an act of good faith, staff in my office complied with this request in order to assist the party. The decision making remained with staff members from GLU, and there was never any attempt to overrule them.”
Dame Margaret responded by retweeting a comment by a fellow Labour MP, Wes Streeting, on the issue.
“A ‘total breach of trust’? How does he think the Jewish community feel?” Mr Streeting wrote.
“They were told that his office would not get involved in individual cases, but that’s exactly what happened. The only question is whether he knew it was a lie. Others in the room did.”
