This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/oct/10/chris-williamson-loses-legal-bid-over-labour-party-antisemitism-suspension

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Chris Williamson loses legal bid over Labour party suspension Chris Williamson loses legal bid over Labour party suspension
(about 2 hours later)
Chris Williamson, the Derby North MP, has lost a high court bid to be reinstated to Labour after being suspended over allegations of antisemitism. Chris Williamson, the Derby North MP, has lost a high court bid to be reinstated in the Labour party after being suspended over allegations of antisemitism.
The one-time ally of Jeremy Corbyn was suspended in February after video footage showed him telling a meeting of Momentum that Labour’s reaction to antisemitism allegations had led to the party being “demonised”. A ruling released on Thursday said the party acted “in good faith” by launching an investigation into claims by Williamson that loyal members accused of antisemitism were being demonised for political reasons.
Williamson was also filmed saying he had celebrated the resignation of the MP Joan Ryan, who quit Labour in protest over the handling of antisemitism and bullying complaints. The ruling means that the one-time ally of Jeremy Corbyn must still face an internal inquiry and could struggle to stand as an MP for the party were a general election called this year. Union sources told the Guardian that they would trigger a selection battle against Williamson even if he were subsequently cleared.
He was readmitted to the party in June and issued with a formal warning after a hearing of a National Executive Committee (NEC) antisemitism panel in June – prompting an outcry from MPs, peers and Jewish groups. Williamson was suspended in February after video footage showed him telling a meeting of Momentum that Labour’s reaction to antisemitism allegations had led to the party being “demonised” and claiming he had celebrated the resignation of the MP Joan Ryan, who quit Labour in protest over the handling of antisemitism complaints.
Days later, Williamson was suspended again after a second panel reviewed the decision to reinstate him and found it “cannot safely stand”. Labour also imposed a separate suspension on 3 September over additional allegations of misconduct.
At a hearing in September, Williamson’s lawyers argued that his treatment had been “manifestly unfair” and asked the court to declare his suspension from the party was void.
Giving judgment on Thursday, Justice Pepperall ruled that “the Labour Party acted unfairly in that there was no proper reason for reopening the case against Mr Williamson”.
Labour failure to grow vote share points to tricky election, analyst warnsLabour failure to grow vote share points to tricky election, analyst warns
However, the judge found that there was “nothing in the new allegations, the timing of the letter of 3 September or the decision to suspend that entitles me to take the view upon the papers that the Labour party is acting either unfairly or other than in good faith”. He was readmitted to the party and issued with a formal warning after a hearing of a national executive committee (NEC) antisemitism panel in June – prompting an outcry from MPs, peers and Jewish groups.
He added: “I therefore refuse relief in respect of Mr Williamson’s recent re-suspension. The new disciplinary case must run its course.” Jon Lansman, the founder of Momentum, said at the time that Williamson had not shown “one iota of contrition” after saying the party had been “too apologetic” in the face of criticism of how it dealt with antisemitism within its ranks. Almost 70 Labour staff members wrote to express their anger at Williamson’s readmission.
Williamson said in a tweet after the ruling: “The battle is won. The war rages on. The high court has today judged that the Labour party acted unlawfully in re-suspending me on 28 June, and ‘that there was no proper reason’ for doing so. I’m glad the ‘re-suspension’ has been quashed. However, I’m currently suspended.” Days later, he was suspended again after a second panel reviewed the decision to reinstate him and found it “cannot safely stand”.
After Williamson’s submission of evidence to the NEC and the advice of an independent lawyer, a three-person antisemitism sub-panel, authorised by the Labour party’s NEC disputes panel, lifted his suspension on 26 June. Following fresh claims that he undermined the party’s ability to campaign against antisemitism by publicly characterising the disciplinary processes against racism as “politically motivated and/or not genuine”, Labour then imposed a separate additional suspension in September.
The move prompted a furious outcry from Labour MPs and some of Corbyn’s closest allies who called for Williamson to have the whip withdrawn. The Labour party then resuspended him just days later. The party also alleged that he had publicly legitimised or endorsed misconduct of former members.
Jon Lansman, the founder of Momentum, said at the time that Williamson had not shown “one iota of contrition” after saying the party had been “too apologetic” in the face of criticism of the way it dealt with antisemitism within its ranks. Almost 70 Labour staff members wrote to express their anger at Williamson’s readmission. Williamson’s lawyers argued that his treatment had been “manifestly unfair” and asked the court to declare his suspension from the party void.
Lansman – one of Corbyn’s oldest allies – accused Williamson of showing “contempt” for the panel’s ruling after he tweeted he had received an “avalanche” of support from grassroots members. Ruling on Thursday, Justice Pepperall said that Labour’s decision in July to suspend Williamson was unlawful because the party failed to follow the rules and questioned the party’s evidence claiming that Keith Vaz was unfit to be involved in the judgment.
In response, Lansman tweeted: “This tweet reveals not one iota of contrition nor any acknowledgement of wrongdoing following a further formal warning from the Labour party for behaviour grossly detrimental to the party. Such contempt for the party’s verdict! He has to go!” The Leicester East MP had sat on the three-member panel that agreed to let Williamson back into the party in June and had called for the decision to suspend him again shortly afterwards to be reviewed.
After the outcry, one of the three-member panel that agreed to let Williamson back into the party called for the decision to be reviewed. However, the judge found there was “nothing in the new allegations, the timing of the letter of 3 September or the decision to suspend that entitles me to take the view upon the papers that the Labour party is acting either unfairly or other than in good faith”.
Keith Vaz, the Leicester East MP, wrote to Labour’s general secretary, Jennie Formby, expressing concern that the leaking of its ruling on Williamson to the media would mean its decisions in other cases could be subject to legal challenge. He added: “While the Labour party is no longer able lawfully to pursue the original disciplinary case against Mr Williamson, that does not afford him immunity from any subsequent disciplinary action.”
He said to ensure the “complete integrity” of the process, either a new panel should be convened or all the cases it dealt with on Wednesday should be referred to the party’s disputes committee for reconsideration. Williamson said in a tweet after the ruling: “The battle is won. The war rages on. The high court has today judged that the Labour party acted unlawfully in re-suspending me and ‘that there was no proper reason’ for doing so. I’m glad the ‘re-suspension’ has been quashed. However, I’m currently suspended.”
A Labour party spokesperson said: “The court has upheld Chris Williamson’s suspension from the party and has said his disciplinary case must run its course.”A Labour party spokesperson said: “The court has upheld Chris Williamson’s suspension from the party and has said his disciplinary case must run its course.”
LabourLabour
AntisemitismAntisemitism
MomentumMomentum
Jeremy CorbynJeremy Corbyn
newsnews
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook
Share on TwitterShare on Twitter
Share via EmailShare via Email
Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn
Share on PinterestShare on Pinterest
Share on WhatsAppShare on WhatsApp
Share on MessengerShare on Messenger
Reuse this contentReuse this content