Jeremy Corbyn must kick Chris WIlliamson out of the Labour Party, an anti-racism charity has said, after the controversial MP was at the centre of another anti-Semitism scandal.
Hope Not Hate called on the party leader to act after it emerged the Labour MP had booked a room in parliament on behalf of Jewish Voice For Labour for a screening of a new film about activist Jackie Walker.
Walker has been suspended from Labour after after saying “many Jews were chief financiers of the slave trade” and for comments at the party’s 2016 conference, revealed by HuffPost in 2016, and is still awaiting a hearing.
The film showing in a Commons committee room on Monday comes as Corbyn is under renewed pressure to tackle Jew-hatred in his party.
Just one week ago, Luciana Berger, the former chair of the Jewish Labour Movement, was among seven MPs to resign, branding Labour “institutionally anti-Semitic”.
Matthew McGregor, campaigns director for Hope Not Hate, told HuffPost UK: “This isn’t Chris Williamson’s first anti-Semitism scandal, and it’s unlikely to be his last.
“If Labour is genuinely serious about removing the taint of anti-Semitism from its ranks, it should do the decent thing and expel Williamson from the party.”
Berger, now sitting as a member of The Independent Group, tweeted that the news about the booking, revealed by Jewish News, was “beyond offensive” .
Jewish Labour MP Ruth Smeeth, meanwhile, said she would be raising the booking with Corbyn: “It’s outrageous that a member of parliament is giving a platform to an organisation that seems more intent on characterising the anti-Semitism crisis within the party as smears rather than being part of solution.
“Giving these people and Jackie Walker a platform at the home of British democracy is a complete and utter disgrace. I’ll be complaining to the leader of the Labour Party and the house authorities.”
Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson also tweeted that he has reported Williamson to Labour’s chief whip Nick Brown and Labour’s general secretary Jennie Formby.
It is expected that Brown and Formby will speak to Williamson and that he will be asked to cancel the booking immediately.
A Labour Party spokeswoman said: “It’s completely inappropriate to book a room for an event about an individual who is suspended from the party and subject to ongoing disciplinary procedures. This falls below the standards we expect of MPs.”
In the film, called ‘Witch Hunt’, Walker claims she is the victim of a politically-motivated attack aimed ultimately at toppling Corbyn as leader.
It is also reported to strongly criticise the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism, which Labour belatedly adopted last year after a long-running battle over its detail.
A number of figures from the group Jewish Voice for Labour, which staged a counter-demonstration to the Enough Is Enough rally, where hundreds of protestors called on Corbyn to do more to tackle anti-Semitism, are also said to feature.
HuffPost UK has contacted the Houses of Parliament and Williamson for comment.
Jewish Movement for Labour chairman Ivor Caplin last year called for the Labour whip to be removed from the MP for Derby North.
In a letter calling for the action, Caplin described a 2017 meeting with Williamson: “He was presented with examples, fully explained the pervasive and widespread anti-Semitism that stains our party and appeared to show contrition for his remarks. His actions since then prove this to not be the case.
“JLM believe that he has already been warned regarding his behaviour, which, to date, includes repeatedly sharing platforms with expelled and suspended members of the Labour Party, claimed those speaking out against anti-Semitism within our party were Tories in disguise, and regularly denying that anti-Semitism exists within Labour.”
Executive producer of the film, Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, admitted that Williamson had booked the room in order for the film to be shown.
She said ‘Witch Hunt’ “raises urgent questions about racism, democracy and the responsibilities of the media”.
She added: “The outcry against it being shown in parliament only demonstrates the urgency of its message.”