Jeremy Corbyn ally Peter Willsman re-elected to Labour's ruling body after anti-Semitism rant
The election of a slate of Corbyn supporters to the NEC is claimed to raise "further concerns about institutional anti-Semitism".
Monday 3 September 2018 21:13, UK
An ally of Jeremy Corbyn who claimed Jewish "Trump fanatics" were behind anti-Semitism allegations has been re-elected to his place on Labour's ruling body.
Peter Willsman was among a raft of supporters of Mr Corbyn to be voted on to Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) on Monday, following a ballot of party members.
The group had been dubbed the "JC 9" and their election will tighten Mr Corbyn and his allies' hold on Labour's internal structures.
At an NEC meeting in July, Mr Willsman was recorded on tape complaining that Jewish people were making up claims of anti-Semitism "without any evidence at all".
"They can falsify social media very easily," he was heard saying.
Left-wing pressure group Momentum, key supporters of Mr Corbyn, dropped support for Mr Willsman's re-election to the NEC last month, calling the comments "deeply insensitive and inappropriate".
Mr Willsman later apologised and acknowledged the "offensive nature of my comments", referring himself to equalities training.
A senior Labour source confirmed to Sky News that Mr Corbyn was present at the NEC meeting where Mr Willsman made the remarks.
Mr Willsman has previously described the Labour leader as his "mate of 40 years" and claimed he was asked for advice by Mr Corbyn on the party's 2016 Chakrabarti report into anti-Semitism.
Marie van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, previously called on Mr Willsman to be "summarily expelled" from Labour.
Following Monday's election results, the NEC will vote on Tuesday on whether to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition and examples of anti-Semitism in full.
Although Labour's new code of conduct, which has previously been approved by the party's ruling body, endorses the IHRA working definition, it also omits four examples from the IHRA list relating to Israel.
The party has argued although the examples are not reproduced word for word, they are covered.
The Jewish Chronicle reported NEC members will be asked support a "free speech" clause on Israel during Tuesday's vote.
A row over the issue has dogged Labour throughout the summer, with former prime minister Gordon Brown calling on the party to adopt the IHRA definition "immediately and unequivocally".
Mr Willsman won back his place on the NEC by more than 2,500 votes, denying comedian Eddie Izzard a seat on the ruling body.
However, Mr Willsman garnered the least votes of all the so-called "JC9" group.
The other candidates to be elected to the NEC were Yasmine Dar, Claudia Webbe, Momentum founder Jon Lansman, Rachel Garnham, Huda Elmi, Darren Williams, Ann Henderson and Navendu Mishra.
Following the announcement of the results, Labour MP Wes Streeting called for Mr Willsman's expulsion from the NEC.
"Through his actions, Peter Willsman has shown he is unfit to serve on Labour's NEC," he said.
"The results suggest that had his conduct come to light sooner - and Momentum taken swifter action - he would not have been elected. He should have been booted off the NEC already."
Denny Taylor, a spokesperson for the Labour Against Anti-Semitism campaign, said the NEC results raise "further concerns about institutional anti-Semitism in the party".
"None of the JC9 have publicly supported the IHRA definition of antisemitism, with many simply refusing to respond to polite inquiries from the Jewish Labour Movement to clarify their positions," he added.
Labour MP Jim Fitzpatrick claimed the NEC results were "clear evidence Jeremy and his team are in charge".
Mr Willsman thanked those party members who voted for him, adding: "As I have said, I see my job to be supporting our leader, JC, my friend for 41 years.
"No Labour leader has been more principled and committed than Jerry. He will lead a Labour government that will fundamentally address the economic and social problems on a scale not seen since the post-war Attlee government.
"This is why the rich and powerful spend so much time trying to undermine him. Sadly, some MPs, elected by Labour voters, seem willing to help the rich and powerful."