Over Easter weekend 2020, a leaked report into antisemitism within the Labour Party exposed a nasty undercurrent of factionalism and bullying. The report, commissioned by the party, unearthed some ten thousand WhatsApp messages and emails between MPs in which they conspired against then leader Jeremy Corbyn and launched sexist and racist abuse at Diane Abbott, a left-wing supporter of Keir Starmer’s predecessor.

For Starmer, the evidence the 860-page dossier provided was inconclusive. In response, the party launched an inquiry into this leaked report — an inquiry into an inquiry — conducted by Martin Forde QC, a lawyer well-known for being the independent advisor to the government’s compensation scheme for Windrush migrants wrongly denied the rights of citizenship.

Forde’s aim was to look into the document, but also “legitimate and serious concerns” regarding the party’s operations. The report faced numerous delays due to legal spats by some who were named in the original leaked document, an investigation over data breaches, and Labour’s decision to pursue legal action against five former Corbyn aides it accused of leaking the document in the first place. The Information Commissioner’s Office is still investigating the data breaches.