Jeremy Corbyn faces mounting dissent over the decision to readmit Chris Williamson to Labour, with the deputy leader, Tom Watson joining MPs and peers to demand he lose the whip, while nearly 70 Labour staff members wrote to express their outrage.
The decision by a three-strong disciplinary panel to allow Williamson, the Derby North MP, back into the parliamentary party with a reprimand for suggesting the party was “too apologetic” about antisemitism has prompted a fierce reaction.
In a joint statement led by Watson, 90 of the party’s MPs and peers said they could not “overstate the depth and breadth of hurt and anger felt about the readmission of Chris Williamson into the Labour party”.
“It is clear to us that the Labour party’s disciplinary process remains mired by the appearance of political interference. This must stop. We need a truly independent process,” the statement said.
“We call on Jeremy Corbyn to show leadership by asking for this inappropriate, offensive and reputationally damaging decision to be overturned and reviewed.
“Ultimately, it is for Jeremy Corbyn to decide whether Chris Williamson retains the Labour whip. He must remove it immediately if we are to stand any hope of persuading anyone that the Labour party is taking antisemitism seriously.”
Watson told the BBC later that Corbyn had to act: “We have never had an MP accused of stirring up so much upset in a particular community in Britain. It required a full inquiry. And that’s why [the NEC] decision is so bewildering.
“Sadly the only route left is for Jeremy to step in, show leadership, remove the whip and allow our chief whip to do a proper inquiry.”
Tom Watson
(@tom_watson)Statement on Chris Williamson pic.twitter.com/WGYx9os2A0
In a separate development, 68 Labour staff members wrote a joint letter to Corbyn to express what they said was their “dismay” at the decision.
They wrote: “We do not say this lightly: the decision to readmit Chris Williamson into the party will help to create and environment where Jewish and non-Jewish employees, who care deeply about fighting antisemitism, are made to feel unwelcome by his presence at work.”
The Guardian understands party investigators recommended that Williamson, the MP for Derby North, face a sterner sanction, but were overruled by a panel from the national executive committee (NEC) made up of the MPs Keith Vaz and George Howarth and Huda Elmi, a constituency representative.
Asked about the decision by ITV, Corbyn said: “I wasn’t involved in the decision at all, it was an independent panel set up through the national executive. They examined the case and they decided to admit him back in, albeit with a reprimand.”
He added: “We deal with antisemitism very, very seriously. There is no place for antisemitism in our society, and obviously not in our party as well.”
Rebecca Filer
(@RebeccaFiler)As Labour staff members, we’ve written to Jennie Formby to demand that the decision to readmit Chris Williamson to the Labour Party be overturned.
He has a pattern of antisemitic behaviour and his presence has created an environment where we are made unwelcome at work. pic.twitter.com/aY4hlgzbL4
Earlier the annual meeting of the Finchley and Golders Green constituency Labour party voted by a significant majority to write to the party’s general secretary, Jennie Formby, and its national executive to express concern at the decision and seek an urgent review.
Williamson has said he had received an “avalanche of goodwill messages” after his suspension was lifted.
Williamson tweeted that he could now “focus on … working for a Corbyn-led Labour government” and thanked “grassroots members” for their support.
Chris Williamson MP #GTTO
(@DerbyChrisW)I’d like to express my heartfelt thanks for the avalanche of goodwill messages from grassroots members. I can now focus on representing local people in Derby Nth and working for a Corbyn-led Labour govt to positively transform the lives of millions.
Together anything is possible!
Williamson is likely to face a deselection battle in his constituency, but will be eligible to stand again for the party in any election.
The Labour MP Ruth Smeeth, who is Jewish, accused the leadership of “political interference” in the decision to readmit Williamson.
“Yet again, all we’re really asking for is genuine leadership. We saw members of the national executive committee, the ruling body of the NEC, overturned the recommendations of the Labour party. That is clearly political interference,” she told Sky News.
Smeeth said she would not be “bullied out of the Labour party”, adding: “It’s other people who have abhorrent views that are racist that need to leave. It’s not me that’s going anywhere.”
The veteran Labour MP Margaret Hodge described the decision to lift Williamson’s suspension as “appalling” and “outrageous”.
Speaking on the BBC’s Newsnight, Hodge said Corbyn could have the decision overturned. “He could tomorrow get Chris Williamson suspended, he could tomorrow actually overturn the finding of this panel and he could get Chris Williamson expelled,” she said.
