Steve Hedley, the RMT executive suspended for saying he would throw a party if Boris Johnson died of COVID-19, has also made antisemitic comments and must be expelled

An executive in the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) who gained public attention when he said that he would throw a party if Boris Johnson died of COVID-19, has also made antisemitic comments and must be expelled.

Steve Hedley served as Senior Assistant General Secretary at RMT until he was suspended for his comment about the Prime Minister, pending an investigation.

However, Mr Hedley has also made antisemitic comments.

In a Facebook post seen by Campaign Against Antisemitism, Mr Hedley accused “Labour Friends of Israel…in tandem with the right wing” of the Labour Party of campaigning to install a “right-winger” as Labour Leader, and argued that antisemitism allegations in Labour had been “weaponised” and that elements in the Party were at fault for not “combatting” those antisemitism allegations.

Previously, Mr Hedley said to a Jewish activist that “what the Nazis did to you, you’re doing to the Palestinians,” adding: “you’re one of the Chosen People, so you might feel better than me, huh?” The International Definition of Antisemitism gives as examples of antisemitism “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” and “Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the State of Israel.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism calls on RMT and the Labour Party to expel Mr Hedley for his antisemitic comments.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.

Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.