Responding to the Labour NEC election results, Conservative Party
Chairman Brandon Lewis said: “These results highlight yet again how
the Labour leadership is not serious about tackling anti-Semitic
racism. “Jeremy Corbyn once promised a ‘kinder politics’, but the
election of Peter Willsman, the man who described Jewish critics of
Labour as ‘Trump fanatics’, has left that promise in...Request free trial
Responding to the Labour NEC election results, Conservative
Party Chairman said:
“These results highlight yet again how the Labour
leadership is not serious about tackling anti-Semitic
racism.
“ once promised a ‘kinder
politics’, but the election of Peter Willsman, the man who
described Jewish critics of Labour as ‘Trump fanatics’, has
left that promise in tatters.
“Corbyn should unequivocally condemn Willsman’s election,
and finally take action to address anti-Semitic racism
within Labour.”
ENDS
Notes to
Editors
Peter Willsman is a close
ally of
and has a history of denying Labour
has an issue with anti-Semitic
racism.
-
· Peter
Willsman is a close ally of
. Willsman has
previously described the Labour
leader as his ‘mate of 40 years’
and claimed he was asked for advice
on the party's 2016 Chakrabarti
report into anti-Semitism (Sky
News, 3 September
2018, link).
-
· Willsman
is the secretary of the Campaign for
Democracy. The CLPD
opposed Ken Livingstone and Marc
Wadsworth’s expulsion from the
(Huffington Post, 22
May 2018, link).
-
· He
was recorded at a Labour NEC meeting
claiming Jewish people who criticised
Labour’s response to anti-Semitism
were ‘Trump
fanatics’. ‘Some of the
people in the Jewish community are
Trump fanatics – I’ll take no
lectures from them’ (Jewish
Chronicle, 18 July
2018, link).
-
· Willsman
claimed never to have seen evidence
of anti-Semitism within Labour during
his 50 years of
membership. At an NEC
meeting, where Willsman is alleged to
have called for a show of hands of
those who believe Labour has a
problem with anti-Semitism, he is
said to have told the meeting: ‘I’ve
got something to say to those rabbis,
where’s your evidence! In 50 years of
membership I’ve never seen
antisemitism’ (The
Guardian, 17 July
2018, link; Huffington
Post, 17 July
2018, link).
-
· He
said that claims of anti-Semitism
were simply devised by Corbyn’s
political
enemies. Willsman told
a meeting of Labour's NEC that
antisemitism allegations are linked
to ‘our political enemies’ who would
not ‘be appeased by us bowing to
their demands’ (Red Roar
Twitter, 26 May
2018, link).
-
· Momentum
dropped support for Willsman, but Jon
Lansman has revealed he still voted
for him (Ross
Kempsell Twitter, 2
September 2018, link).
|
