New Labour general secretary vows to unite the party

Labour's new general secretary has vowed to introduce procedures to deal with complaints and disciplinary cases and said the "stain" of anti-Semitic attitudes must be "completely eradicated" within the party.
Jennie Formby, the newly-appointed Labour general secretary.Jennie Formby, the newly-appointed Labour general secretary.
Jennie Formby, the newly-appointed Labour general secretary.

Jennie Formby said her overriding priority is to unite the party in working for the election of a Labour government under Jeremy Corbyn, at the earliest opportunity.

In an email to Labour members in her first day in the job, she said that creating unity required recognising and tackling problems in the party, "above all in relation to anti-Semitism".

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She wrote: "This week I will be moving to ensure the full implementation of the Chakrabarti report and introducing new procedures to deal with complaints and disciplinary cases.

"The stain of anti-Semitic attitudes must be completely eradicated within the Labour Party - we are the party for people of all races and faiths, the party of full equality for all, or we are nothing.

"Likewise, I will tackle any manifestation of misogyny, bullying or abuse of anyone, as Jeremy Corbyn has pledged.

"I inherit a tremendous staff team at Labour HQ and in the regions and nations.

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"Working with the largest membership of any democratic socialist political party in Europe, we can build on our great electoral advances of last year.

"I look forward to playing my part in winning the Labour government, Labour local authorities and Labour representatives our people need."

Ms Formby took over from Iain McNichol, who resigned in February.

She is only the second woman to hold the post.