George McManus, who was suspended from Labour over “Judas” Facebook comment, made Labour spokesman in Yorkshire

George McManus, who was briefly suspended from the Labour Party after posting a Facebook comment about Tom Watson likening him to “Judas” for accepting donations from Jewish businessman Sir Trevor Chinn, has reportedly been made Labour spokesman in the East Riding of Yorkshire. He is also a local election candidate for Labour in the Minster and Woodmansey Ward in the East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

Mr McManus, who sat on Labour’s National Policy Forum as a Momentum-backed member, wrote that: “Apparently [the] Electoral Commission states that Watson received £50,000+ from Jewish donors. At least Judas only got 30 pieces of silver.” Judas was supposedly a disciple of Jesus who betrayed him for money, and for centuries was used as a means of inciting hatred and even murder by portraying Jews as money-obsessed and disloyal.

Mr McManus deleted the post and apologised, calling his comments “crass”, “wrong”, “inappropriate and hurtful.” Labour reportedly reinstated Mr McManus after just eight weeks.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has begun pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant. The pre-enforcement proceedings are a precursor to opening a full statutory investigation.

In recent months, eleven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with numerous councillors and members.

Over 50,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”