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UK charities watchdog ‘assesses concerns’ about Campaign Against Antisemitism

<span>Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images</span>
Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

The Charity Commission has said it is “assessing concerns” about the Campaign Against Antisemitism, which was at the forefront of antisemitism allegations against Labour under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

The commission has opened a regulatory compliance case against the CAA, after complaints including that the charity is politically partisan.

The CAA made the initial submission to the Equality and Human Rights Commission about antisemitism within Labour, which led to the EHRC finding that the party was responsible for unlawful harassment and discrimination.

The CAA also organised protests outside Labour HQ and a petition, the wording of which was changed from Corbyn “must go” to Labour “must act” after a previous regulatory compliance case. On that occasion the Charity Commission said it had instructed the CAA to change the wording “to ensure it complied with our guidance on campaigning and political activity”.

Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) has complained to the charities regulator, alleging the CAA is not fulfilling its stated principal charitable objects of promoting racial harmony by the elimination of antisemitism.

It alleges the CAA has engaged in “persistent conflation and equating of antisemitism with criticism of the state of Israel”. This echoed concerns raised by the all-party parliamentary group against antisemitism in a 2015 report, which said “it is important that the (CAA) leadership do not conflate concerns about activity legitimately protesting Israel’s actions with antisemitism, as we have seen has been the case on some occasions”.

JVL, which has had dozens of members investigated by Labour for alleged antisemitism, alleges the CAA is a “partisan political campaigning group”. Charity regulations state that “an organisation will not be charitable if its purposes are political”.

In July, Margaret Hodge, a former CAA patron, tweeted that the charity was “more concerned with undermining Labour than rooting out antisemitism”.

A Charity Commission spokesperson said: “We can confirm that the commission is assessing concerns raised with us about the Campaign Against Antisemitism.”

The opening of a case is not a finding of wrongdoing.

A CAA spokesperson did not address any of the specific allegations but claimed the Charity Commission had sent out “standard lines” to inquiries and “is not therefore investigating Campaign Against Antisemitism and we have no reason to anticipate any regulatory action”.

The commission has described regulatory compliance cases as when it makes further inquiries and aims “to ensure trustees address any failures and weaknesses in their charities’ management”. It can refuse to take up a complaint if it is not deemed to be in the public interest. Where the regulator deems appropriate, a compliance case can be escalated into a statutory inquiry.