Senior Labour figure says Shami Chakrabarti should be an MP rather than a peer

credit - Jonathan Brady/PA Wire/Press Association Images

Shami Chakrabarti should have sought election to the House of Commons rather than accepting a peerage from Jeremy Corbyn, senior Labour MP Keith Vaz has said. 

Chakrabarti’s elevation to the Lords has been met with dismay by members of the Jewish community who argue it calls into question the neutrality of her report on anti-Semitism within the Labour Party, published last month.

However, Vaz, the chairman of the Home Affairs select committee and an MP since 1987, said the peerage did raise questions about the inquiry, and argued she was in “the wrong House”.

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“Shami Chakrabarti has made a mistake; she should have been in the House of Commons rather than the House of Lords,” he told Sky News.  

“She is very suitably qualified to be either in the Commons or the Lords. I would have preferred for her to be with me in the House of Commons; she would have done a fantastic job.”

He revealed he had written to Chakrabarti to ask when she was offered the peerage.

The Home Affairs Committee has been conducting a review into anti-Semitism, and took evidence from both Chakrabarti and the Labour leader.  

Chakrabarti, a prominent human rights campaigner and former director of Liberty, said she was “honoured” by her appointment.

“This is a dangerous moment for our country and we share vital human rights values that need defending more than ever before in my lifetime,” she added.

Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson described the timing of the appointment as “a mistake” this morning.

However, Shadow Health Secretary Diane Abbott fired back at her colleagues this morning in defence of Corbyn and Chakrabarti.

She told Sky News: “Shami Chakrabarti is one of the most distinguished people in public life. She would have had a peerage under a number of Labour leaders. To say her appointment ‘stinks’, what message does that give to young women of Shami’s background about stepping into the public space.”