Chris Williamson’s letter of resignation from Labour reads like manifesto against Jews
The disgraced MP, Chris Williamson, has submitted an extraordinary letter of resignation from the Labour Party that reads like a manifesto against Jews, replete with references to a “witch hunt”, “smears”, outsized Israeli power and opposition to Labour’s adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism. He also suggests that the General Secretary of the Labour Party agrees with his views.
The letter follows a determination by the Party that he cannot be a Labour candidate in his constituency of Derby North. However, Mr Williamson, who has been on suspension from the Party, says that he shall stand as an independent candidate.
In his letter, Mr Williamson expressed to General-Secretary Jennie Formby his dismay that Labour officials have “enabled and executed what I believe to be a witch hunt against hundreds of socialists loyal to Jeremy Corbyn and his transformative, socialist, anti-imperialist worldview.”
He elaborated that “many of the victims of this witch hunt have been Jewish socialists,” presumably a reference to his friend, the antisemitic founder of Labour Against the Witch Hunt, Jackie Walker, who claimed that she was Jewish in response to uproar over her antisemitic comments.
Not only does Mr Williamson describe the Labour antisemitism crisis as “smears”, but suggests that Ms Formby agrees: “you and others share my belief that the antisemitism smears against Labour Party activists, candidates and MPs are unfounded.”
The letter proceeds to suggest that the century-old Jewish Labour Movement was revived “in 2015 at the same time as the State of Israel launched a diplomatic strategy to…normalise Zionism in our movement,” an unsubtle suggestion that the Jewish State is playing an insidious role in internal Labour politics.
He also absurdly asserts that the “witch hunt” serves the objectives of “Britain First and the Jewish Defence League”, whom he accuses of having “led the campaign for the Labour Party to adopt” the International Definition, which he evidently opposes.
Back in February, when Mr Williamson was first suspended, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn leapt to his defence, saying: “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.”
Mr Williamson is well-known for having baited Jews by dismissing allegations of antisemitism as “proxy wars and bulls***” whilst supporting Labour activists like Marc Wadsworth and Ms Walker who were expelled from the Party over their comments. He has been suspended by Labour three times (although the second suspension was overturned by the High Court).
On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.
In recent months, thirteen MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.
Over 57,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”
