A former Conservative minister has accused his party of corruption after officials admitted they launched an investigation into him over comments that were alleged to have been antisemitic, despite a lack of any formal complaint.
Alan Duncan, a former Foreign Office minister, launched a scathing attack on his own party after being exonerated by an internal investigation into the comments.
He revealed the party had told him it had begun the investigation into remarks he made during an interview with LBC, despite nobody having complained officially about them.
Duncan said: “I’ve been put through a complaints procedure, which was potentially highly damaging to my reputation, when there hadn’t even been a complaint. It was in fact a political decision by invisible actors who have not come forward.”
Duncan is a veteran of Conservative politics, having served as an MP for 27 years and worked twice as a Foreign Office minister. During that time he has come into frequent conflict with members of his own party for his views on the Middle East and especially his forthright criticisms of Israel.
In April, Duncan took part in an interview on LBC during which he criticised the Conservative Friends of Israel for having an undue influence on government policy.
In the interview, he said: “The Conservative Friends of Israel has been doing the bidding of Netanyahu, bypassing all proper processes of government to exercise undue influence at the top of government.”
He singled out Lord Polak, the group’s honorary chair, for particular criticism, saying: “In my view, I think he should be removed from the Lords because he is exercising the interests of another country, not that of the parliament in which he sits.”
Soon afterwards, the party launched an investigation into his comments. According to the wording of the complaint against him, Duncan stood accused of using antisemitic tropes in part because he was accusing Jewish people of being more loyal to Israel than their own country.
Duncan revealed on Tuesday he had now been cleared of those charges. But he also highlighted that the written judgment showed there had been no complaint made against him in the first place.
The judgment, which was made last week by a three-member panel, said: “The panel understood that this was not a matter where any formal complaint had been submitted to the party so a copy could not have been provided to the respondent. Rather, it was a matter that had come to the party’s attention and been taken on by the party as complainant.”
The Conservatives would not comment on their internal investigative processes, however a spokesperson said: “Sir Alan’s claims about the Conservative party and its links are entirely false and unfounded. In the case of the CFI, this organisation is not a body recognised by the party board.”
At a press conference in central London, Duncan went on to repeat his accusation that his party remained unduly influenced by people lobbying on behalf of the Israeli government.
“Money, improper influence, and the promotion of Israeli interests above our own have contributed to the destruction of the UK’s independent foreign policy,” he said, adding: “The flow of money and the influence behind the scenes that attaches to it need to be exposed.”
Those comments caused anger again among some in the Jewish community however. Danny Stone, the chief executive of the Antisemitism Policy Trust, said: “These comments are as ludicrous as they are sinister.
“It is a shame Sir Alan feels emboldened, when he should be repentant. The Conservative party should urgently review this case and reverse the decision.”