Labour facing fresh Chris Williamson row as suspended MP set to speak at 'multiple' events at party conference

Labour faces the prospect of its annual conference being overshadowed by another antisemitism row after Chris Williamson announced that he would be speaking at numerous events during the gathering next month.

The controversial Derby North MP is currently suspended from the party over his comments about antisemitism but said he would address members at multiple events during the conference in Brighton.

The fringe events are not organised or authorised by the party but his presence alongside thousands of party members at the conference risks causing a major headache for Labour officials.

The parliamentary chair of the Jewish Labour Movement said his presence would be “inappropriate on every level”, but Mr Williamson said his critics were “mischief-makers” who should “pipe down”.

The MP, a vocal supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, is listed as a speaker at a fringe event on a “green new deal” being hosted by the Gower Initiative for Modern Money Studies. He told The Independent he had also been booked to speak at a number of other events.

Labour said the Gower event was not an official part of the conference. Mr Williamson said he had not yet requested a security pass to the main conference and sources suggested he would not be granted one while he remained suspended. Events at which he is speaking will not be approved or promoted by the party.

However, the announcement that he will speak at fringe events around the main conference prompted anger from Labour MPs.

Mr Williamson was suspended by the party in March after being recorded claiming that Labour had given too much ground on the issue on antisemitism and been too apologetic in its response to the crisis. He had previously made a series of contentious comments in relation to antisemitism, including defending people who had been kicked out of the party for alleged anti-Jewish abuse.

The MP was readmitted to the party after a hearing in June but was quickly suspended again following an angry backlash at the decision. Reports last week suggested he had now been referred to the party’s main disciplinary body, the National Constitutional Committee, for a full investigation. He has vowed to clear his name.

Stoke-on-Trent North MP Ruth Smeeth, the parliamentary chair of the Jewish Labour Movement, told The Independent: “No one in the Labour Party should be sharing a platform with members who are suspended in relation to antisemitism.

“This is inappropriate on every level and the Labour Party must make sure it does not indulge this kind of activity. [Mr Williamson] is currently subject to a disciplinary hearing – on that basis he should not be granted a pass to conference and nor should he be turning up to wind everyone up.

“This is problematic and unnecessary, particularly given that we’re in Brighton, where we’ve seen some appalling antisemitic abuse from within the Labour Party. I don’t think this is appropriate at all.”

Ilford North MP Wes Streeting, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on antisemitism, said: ”It beggars belief that people are still willing to give Chris Williamson a platform given his conduct. As he is suspended from the Labour Party he should not be speaking at events at our conference.”

But a defiant Mr Williamson told The Independent he would not be deterred by “malcontents” and suggested that his critics risked breaching human rights laws relating to freedom of speech.

He said: “I haven’t got a pass yet, but I will be speaking at various fringe events at this year’s Labour Party conference.

“It’s a tragedy that a tiny but noisy minority of party members want to trash the spirit of the Human Rights Act. It’s one of Labour’s greatest achievements. Maybe these malcontents have forgotten that Labour enshrined freedom of expression into British law nearly 21 years ago.

“If these mischief-makers are genuinely interest in winning the next election, they should pipe down and devote their energies to exposing the Tories and promoting a common sense socialist programme.

“That’s the way to beat Boris Johnson, rather than attempting to censor the voices of people like me who speak for the overwhelming bulk of party members and the vast majority of Labour supporters.”

Of the Gower Initiative event, a Labour spokesperson said: “This event is not part of our conference fringe and is not connected to Labour Party conference in any way.”