Ex-Tory member sues party over suspension for criticising Israel

A former Conservative member, whose grandfather was the archbishop of Jerusalem, is suing the party after he was suspended for making critical remarks about the state of Israel.

Bruce MacInnes was told by Tory party officials that his “repeated allegation that Israel is committing genocide in Palestine” constituted “allegedly antisemitic”, “discriminatory” and “insensitive and highly offensive” language, which resulted in his suspension from the party last year.

MacInnes, who says he did not initially know about the disciplinary proceedings despite the party claiming they had emailed him, is bringing legal action against the party for £30,000 in the high court for breach of contract and discrimination based on belief.

The row has raised questions over freedom of speech within the party and has drawn criticism from former foreign minister Sir Alan Duncan who described the party’s treatment of MacInnes as “McCarthysim built on ignorance”.

A member since 2018, MacInnes had often shared his views on the political situation in the Middle East on a WhatsApp group with other members. He felt qualified to do so, given his family’s longstanding links with the region.

Two of MacInnes’s ancestors were Anglican bishops in Jerusalem and his grandfather, Campbell MacInnes, was archbishop for 13 years until 1969. MacInnes’s father, David, was born in Jerusalem, and MacInnes considers the region “part of my own history”.

But shortly before leadership contest between Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick in October 2024, he found his party membership was no longer active.

Upon enquiring after the ballot slip that would allow him to vote in the leadership contest, which he was yet to receive, MacInnes discovered he hadbeen suspended six months prior for antisemitism.

The party’s governance team had decided, without his knowledge, that MacInnes had expressed views on Israel’s war in Gaza that were “allegedly antisemitic”.

The row centres on messages sent after 7 October, when MacInnes, who had been a member of the Lambeth & Southwark Conservative party WhatsApp group for a few years, thought other members’ understanding of the history of the region was misguided.

“It’s a feature of the public discourse that the conflict is routinely portrayed inaccurately,” MacInnes told the Guardian.

He began to express views in the group that were critical of Israel and its supporters, until one was censored. It mentioned “Israel’s pivotal role in the massive destruction in Lebanon … between 1978 and 2000”, and was removed because, according to the group’s admin, “it may have breached the group use guidelines”.

MacInnes reposted the content of the message and a few hours later was removed from the group entirely for a “cooling off period”. When he asked for an explanation he was told the “repeated allegation that Israel is committing genocide in Palestine” had been a factor.

MacInnes, who says he had been discussing the International Court of Justice’s ruling in respect to the South Africa claim, which had been found four days earlier to have a plausible case for genocide, replied to the administrator: “Is it really offensive in your view for a member of this group to highlight or support the findings of the International Court of Justice?”

The issue was escalated to the Conservative party’s central members governance team which claimed to have sent MacInnes emails in relation to the matter – however he claims none of these emails were received.

MacInnes said was also attempting to make contact with the party: “I was repeatedly emailing the party at the time to ask what had happened to the referral to the member governance team but they didn’t respond.” He also emailed the local party chair but received no reply.

In the meantime, an anonymous complaint appears to have been lodged against MacInnes and in April the party’s panel of the social media complaints rules upheld the grievance and imposed a six-month suspension and social media and inclusion training.

MacInnes did not know any of this until October, did not see the emails until 4 November and says no training has been offered. The Conservative disciplinary procedure has previously been accused of being used to silence criticism, with the case echoing that of former foreign minister Sir Alan Duncan, to whom MacInnes went to for advice.

Duncan, like MacInnes, was the subject of an anonymous complaint of antisemitism for comments he made on LBC before being cleared and believes the investigation was a “political decision” for his criticism of lobby group, Conservative Friends of Israel.

Duncan told the Guardian: “Everything Mr MacInnes said [in the WhatsApp group] was entirely reasonable and historically accurate.” He added: “We are seeing a vicious revival of McCarthysim built on ignorance, and intended to suppress all support for Palestinian justice.”

MacInnes is awaiting a court date and has already spent nearly £30,000 in legal fees, about the same he is suing for. “It’s quite likely that even if I win it will still cost me a substantial sum of money,” he says. “I’m doing it because I believe … our right to free speech is being eroded.”

The Conservative party was approached for comment.