Labour lied on Islamophobia definition after extremist influence cover-up

Nick Timothy MP has set out that Labour’s Islamophobia definition was almost certainly influenced by extremists. They covered it up and said all the evidence was deleted. He forced them to investigate. The claim of deletion stood until his pressure produced a different result from inside the party itself. What he dragged out cannot now be brushed aside.

Now their top official says ministers lied, and they do still have records of it. There is zero excuse not to publish it. The top official’s statement directly contradicts what ministers had told the world about the evidence. Timothy’s refusal to accept the first answer forced the investigation that yielded this admission. The records of how the definition was reached remain in their hands.

Labour’s Islamophobia definition carried the almost certain mark of extremist influence from the start. That influence was covered up. The cover-up went as far as the assertion that every scrap of evidence had been deleted. Timothy rejected that assertion outright. He compelled the investigation that followed and refused to let the matter rest.

The investigation reached their top official. That official says ministers lied. The lie concerned the fate of the evidence. Records showing the extremist influence on the definition were never deleted. Labour still holds those records. The official wording ends the earlier account given by ministers.

Zero excuse remains for withholding the records any longer. Timothy has made the position plain. The definition took shape under influence that was then hidden. Officials declared the evidence gone. That declaration has collapsed under the investigation he forced. Publication of what survives is the only course left open.

The facts stand in sequence through Timothy’s work. Extremist influence on Labour’s Islamophobia definition. The cover-up that followed. The false statement that all evidence had been deleted. The investigation he compelled. The top official’s confirmation that ministers lied and that the records exist. No reason is left to keep them unpublished.