Shami Chakrabarti insists she’s not corrupt in Labour peerage row
Former head of Liberty insists neither she nor Jeremy Corbyn are in the wrong after she received peerage nomination following her anti-Semitism inquiry.
Shami Chakrabarti has insisted neither she nor Jeremy Corbyn are “corrupt” after she received a peerage nomination following her anti-Semitism inquiry into the Labour Party.
The former head of Liberty claimed she has previously been offered “transactional favours” by prime ministers but not by “beleaguered” Labour leader Mr Corbyn, as she insisted the peerage was offered after her inquiry was published.
Ms Chakrabarti added there was “nothing remotely transactional” about her report when pressed if there were any talks about a peerage before it was completed.
She faced questions over her independence during the anti-Semitism investigation after she revealed she had joined the Labour Party.
And Labour figures and prominent Jewish figures criticised Mr Corbyn’s decision to nominate Ms Chakrabarti to the House of Lords – alongside David Cameron’s resignation honours – just a month after her inquiry reported back.
Ms Chakrabarti told BBC 1’s Andrew Marr show: “It’s not been the summer of love in the Labour Party or in British politics more generally.
“Yes, lots of mud has been slung about, ‘it was transactional’ etc etc, I ‘wrote a whitewash’ – I did not.
“I know what it’s like to be offered transactional favours by prime ministers and not by beleaguered leaders of the Labour Party.”
She added: “I wrote a report to try and civilise discourse in the Labour Party. I’ve yet to completely succeed in that enterprise but I stand by it.”
Asked if she was offered a peerage before her report, Ms Chakrabarti replied: “No. It was after the Brexit, after the report, in the resignation honours.”
Pressed on whether there were any talks before the report was completed, she said: “Jeremy Corbyn is not a corrupt man and I am not a corrupt woman.
“I stand by the report. There was nothing remotely transactional about this.”
She later said there had been no talks.
Ms Chakrabarti was also pushed over whether she would join a future shadow cabinet under Mr Corbyn, potentially as shadow justice secretary.
She replied: “I think he’s got a leadership election to win before anything like that.”
On whether her reputation has been damaged, Ms Chakrabarti said: “When people sling mud at you it is designed to damage your reputation but I haven’t done anything really in my working life for reputation. I’m doing my best to make a difference.”
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