Chris Williamson: Labour refuse to suspend MP who said his party ‘too apologetic’ over antisemitism

Labour has announced that the MP who said his party had been “too apologetic” over antisemitism will not be suspended, but is being investigated.

Jeremy Corbyn’s spokesperson said Chris Williamson would be investigated over “a pattern of behaviour” that included and went beyond the comments made in a video recording that has been condemned by fellow MPs.

But in a sign of the difficulty facing Mr Corbyn, the spokesperson confirmed the period being investigated stretched further back than three weeks ago when the leader defended Mr Williamson as “very good, very effective”, in an interview with the MP’s local paper.

It comes amid uproar from many in Mr Corbyn’s party, including deputy leader Tom Watson, who demanded the MP have the whip removed, as the antisemitism crisis was a key factor in leading MPs to resign from Labour and form the new Independent Group.

Mr Corbyn’s spokesperson said Mr Williamson’s comments were “deeply offensive” and that “downplaying the problem of antisemitism makes it harder for us to tackle it”.

He added: “Chris Williamson has rightly apologised and withdrawn his remarks, and has been issued with a notice of investigation for a pattern of behaviour, and is not suspended during the investigation.”

There is precedence for Labour MPs both being suspended and not suspended during internal investigations in the past, with Mr Corbyn’s spokesperson saying it was a judgement call that the party would make in each case.

He would not go into more detail about exactly what the pattern of behaviour that Mr Williamson is being investigated for involved, but he did say it stretched over a longer period that Mr Corbyn’s supportive comments to the Derby Telegraph.

It was at the end of January that Mr Corbyn said: “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.”

Criticism of the Derby North MP’s words from within the party was widespread on Wednesday, with shadow Northern Ireland secretary Tony Lloyd telling BBC Radio 4’s World at One: “His actions are grossly unacceptable. And the comments are unacceptable.

“Labour has got to give signals to the world that not only are we not prepared to tolerate antisemitism, we are not prepared to tolerate those who make an excuse for that antisemitism. So, Chris Williamson’s comments, from that point, are offensive and have to be dealt with.”

Dame Margaret Hodge, who has been targeted with antisemitic abuse, said she had written to the chief whip and asked that the MP immediately have the whip removed.

Mr Watson shared an email he sent to Labour chief whip Nick Brown and general secretary Jennie Formby, in which he also formally requested that Mr Williamson have the whip removed and be suspended from the party.

In the email he said the MP’s speech was “completely unacceptable, it brings the party into disrepute, and amounts to a Labour MP breaching the party’s code of conduct on antisemitism in a public forum”.

Mr Williamson had already provoked his party’s ire by booking a room in parliament for the screening of a film about an activist suspended for alleged antisemitism, something which a Labour spokesperson described as “completely inappropriate”.

The video, obtained by the Yorkshire Post, was recorded at a meeting in Sheffield in the wake of last week’s resignation of eight Labour MPs to join the Independent Group.

But in the wake of criticism Mr Williamson said he deeply regretted his “choice of words”, adding: “I am therefore sorry for how I chose to express myself on this issue within our party.”

Labour MP and former shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper tweeted: “Appalled by the things that Chris Williamson has said. These are not the values of the Labour Party. Apology is not enough. Party has to demonstrate how seriously we take this. Agree with Tom Watson & Ed Miliband on immediate suspension needed.”

Former Labour leader Mr Miliband tweeted that Mr Williamson was bringing the party into disrepute over antiemitism, adding: “This is a test of seriousness on our part about the whole issue. Disciplinary action, not simply an apology, is required.”

Birmingham Yardley MP Jess Phillips said Mr Williamson’s comment seemed “specifically designed to upset”, adding: “Must be disciplined.”

Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy said antisemitism has to be “expunged not ignored”, tweeting: “Those who perpetuate it or minimise it bring the party into disrepute. No ifs, no buts,” while Ilford North MP Wes Streeting tweeted: “Stomach-turning. No action will be taken.”

Mr Williamson was first elected MP for Derby North in 2010, but was unseated in the 2015 general election.

He ran again in 2017, this time receiving a visit from Mr Corbyn during the general election campaign, and won and was later made a shadow fire and emergency services minister.

He left the post by mutual agreement six months later after commenting on policy outside his brief to suggest that council tax should be doubled for better-off homes.