Corbyn gives chair of Labour’s anti-Semitism inquiry a peerage

Although Jeremy Corbyn has previously suggested that he is against the creation of new peers, the Labour leader appears to take a different approach when it comes to the chair of his anti-Semitism inquiry. After weeks of speculation that Corbyn was poised to give Shami Chakrabarti — who recently found that the party was not overrun with anti-Semitism — a peerage, today the news has been confirmed in the official resignation honours list:

In a statement on the decision, Labour say they are ‘delighted’ to confirm Chakrabarti’s appointment to the House of Lords. They refrain, however, from addressing concerns that this suggests a conflict of interest. It’s particularly awkward timing given that the former Liberty director has just been accused of burying evidence of anti-Semitism at Oxford University Labour Club. What’s more, Mr S suspects that even Corbyn may have reason to doubt his comrade. While the Labour leader separated from his second wife over her desire to send their son to a grammar school, reports today claim that Chakrabarti tried to send her son to Eton.