Labour fails to suspend MP who said party has been ‘too apologetic’ for antisemitism
A Labour MP who claimed the party had been “too apologetic” about antisemitism is being investigated by the party – but has not been suspended.
Chris Williamson made the comments at a meeting of the Sheffield branch of Momentum, the pro-Jeremy Corbyn group, in the wake of nine Labour MPs quitting the party last week.
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After footage of the meeting emerged via the Yorkshire Post, numerous Labour MPs called for Williamson to be axed, with deputy party leader Tom Watson tweeting: “If it was in my gift I would have removed the whip from him already.”
Williamson issued an apology on Wednesday morning, saying: "I deeply regret, and apologise for, my recent choice of words.”
He added: “I was trying to suggest how much the party has done to tackle antisemitism.”
A Labour spokesperson said: “Chris Williamson’s comments were deeply offensive and fall below the standards we accept of MPs.
“Downplaying the problem of antisemitism makes it harder for us to tackle it and Chris Williamson has rightly apologised and withdrawn his remarks and he’s been issued with a notice of investigation for a pattern of behaviour and is not suspended during the investigation.”
The spokesperson said the decision not to suspend the Derby North MP during the investigation had been “taken by the party.”
Williamson has been one of Corbyn's greatest cheerleaders, and has repeatedly gone into bat for his leader in media appearances.
In a visit to Derbyshire at the end of January, Corbyn told Derbyshire Live: “Chris Williamson is a very good, very effective Labour MP. He’s a very strong anti-racist campaigner. He is not antisemitic in any way.”
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Labour MP Wes Streeting reacted to the news Williamson had not been suspended by saying: "Zero tolerance must mean zero tolerance."
Liverpool Wavertree MP Luciana Berger quit Labour last week, along with several colleagues, claiming it was "institutionally antisemitic".