A senior lawyer appointed by the Labour Party as their new in-house counsel to oversee the disciplinary process on antisemitism cases has said he “absolutely” shares the same views on Israel and Palestine as Jeremy Corbyn.
Gordon Nardell QC’s role was confirmed by the party last Friday as part of General Secretary Jennie’s Formby’s pledge to deal with high-profile outstanding antisemitism cases.
But the JC can reveal that Mr Nardell has a long history of hard left activism as a former member of the Labour Representation Committee, chaired by shadow chancellor John McDonnell.
Earlier this year Mr McDonnell sat alongside Mr Nardell at a meeting to back his campaign to be selected as the parliamentary candidate for Westminster Labour Party.
Mr Nardell was asked by a member of the audience, who said she had only re-joined Labour because of Mr Corbyn’s views on foreign policy issues such as Palestine, Syria and opposition to the war in Iraq, if he too supports these views. to which Mr Nardell replied: ”Yes absolutely.”
Mr McDonnell then told the audience member: ”Gordon has campaigned for us on all those issues – including Iraq.”
Mr Nardell is also said to be close to Elleanne Green, who was exposed earlier this year for her role in the Palestine Live Facebook group which was littered with antisemitism material.
Ms Green was placed under investigation by Labour after alleged antisemitic comments of her own came to light , including evidence that she had shared a story claiming “Zionists” are “killing children and stealing children to sell them on the black market”.
Ms Greene reacted to Mr Nardell’s appointment by describing him as “a man I like and trust” and as “a non-Zionist Jew.”
Meanwhile the JC has discovered that Mr Nardell is a former member of editorial board of the far-left Labour Briefing magazine – alongside Jackie Walker. Both were members of the board at the time of the December 2012 issue.
Ms Walker has been suspended from the Labour Party for the past two years in one of the most high-profile cases of alleged antisemitism.
The Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council highlighted Labour’s failure to tackle long-standing antisemitism cases such as Ms Walker’s in their meeting earlier this year with Mr Corbyn and Ms Formby.
Ms Walker’s will now be one of the main cases Mr Nardell will be asked to advise on.
Mr Nardell – who specialises in international litigation and arbitration - works out of the highly regarded 20 Essex Street Chambers.
Legal ranking experts Chambers & Partners describe him as “a superb legal resource“.
A Labour Friends of Israel spokesman said:"We are concerned that, given his apparent sympathies with Jeremy Corbyn's world view, far left associations and the endorsement he has received from those behind the appalling Palestine Live Facebook group, Mr Nardell may not be best placed to oversee the effort to rid the Labour party of antisemitism.
"However, swift and tough action against the many antisemites who appear to have made Labour their home will help to dispel those concerns.”
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