A Labour MP claimed yesterday that Jeremy Corbyn ‘did all he could’ to defend his close ally Chris Williamson before his suspension.
Siobhain McDonagh said the Labour leader tried to ‘personally defend’ Mr Williamson – while a party source suggested he had asked chief whip Nick Brown not to remove him.
Labour has furiously denied that Mr Corbyn played any personal role in initially preventing the whip being removed from the firebrand MP after he was filmed telling a meeting the party had been ‘too apologetic’ about anti-Semitism. But yesterday, the source said Mr Brown had implied the decision had been ‘taken out of his hands’.
This would mean the suspension was a matter for the office of Mr Corbyn or the party’s general secretary Jennie Formby, they added.
A Labour MP claimed yesterday that Jeremy Corbyn ‘did all he could’ to defend his close ally Chris Williamson (right) before his suspension
Miss McDonagh, who is rumoured to be considering leaving the party, told HuffPost UK: ‘I welcome Chris Williamson’s suspension pending investigation for acts of anti-Jewish racism.
‘No amount of mealy-mouthed apologies could justify his actions at the Sheffield Momentum event last week.
Siobhain McDonagh (above) said the Labour leader tried to ‘personally defend’ Mr Williamson – while a party source suggested he had asked chief whip Nick Brown not to remove him
‘How could we apologise too much for acts of anti-Jewish racism in our party? Jeremy did all he could to personally defend him but he could not maintain his support in the face of universal demands for his suspension.’
The row erupted on Wednesday after footage of Mr Williamson’s comments at the Momentum meeting in Sheffield was released by the Yorkshire Post newspaper.
It prompted an immediate outcry from moderate Labour MPs, including the party’s deputy leader Tom Watson, who demanded the hard-Left MP be suspended.
Mr Williamson was then seen heading into the leader’s office before issuing an apology at around midday, saying he ‘regretted’ his choice of words.
At a briefing just after 1.30pm, Mr Corbyn’s spokesman said Mr Williamson had been issued with a ‘notice of investigation’.
However, the spokesman said the MP would not be suspended while the investigation took place, triggering further anger.
Labour’s Parliamentary Committee then met and agreed unanimously that Mr Williamson should be suspended.
At 5pm the party finally announced Mr Williamson had been suspended.
Miss McDonagh, who is rumoured to be considering leaving the party, told HuffPost UK: ‘I welcome Chris Williamson’s suspension pending investigation for acts of anti-Jewish racism'
Around the same time, a letter from 38 Labour MPs was sent to Miss Formby calling for the whip to be withdrawn from the MP, although Labour deny this was the prompt.
The party insists Mr Corbyn was not personally involved in the decision to suspend Mr Williamson, although it has not denied that the leader’s office played a role.
Yesterday, a Labour source said chief whip Mr Brown had implied that he had not been involved in the decision.
They added: ‘Suspension is a matter for the leader’s office, the general secretary or the chief whip.
‘Nick Brown implied the Chris Williamson decision had been taken out of his hands. He didn’t say it in so many words, but it was suggested.’
Labour denied that Mr Corbyn spoke to Mr Brown.
But a Shadow Cabinet source told The Independent: ‘This decision was taken off Nick Brown and taken by the general secretary and the leader’s office.’
And BBC Newsnight reported that Mr Corbyn was ‘heavily involved’ in the initial decision.
Last night a Labour spokesman said it was ‘categorically untrue’ to suggest that Mr Corbyn himself had intervened in the case.
They added: ‘Jeremy Corbyn is not involved in disciplinary processes and did not intervene in this case. The suspension decision was taken before the letter from MPs.’
Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson dodged the question of whether Jeremy Corbyn was ‘fit to be prime minister’ yesterday, as he warned that a number of MPs were ‘perilously close’ to quitting the party
Watson won't say if Jeremy's fit to be PM
Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson dodged the question of whether Jeremy Corbyn was ‘fit to be prime minister’ yesterday, as he warned that a number of MPs were ‘perilously close’ to quitting the party.
Mr Watson was asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme if Mr Corbyn was fit to run the country given his handling of the party’s anti-Semitism crisis.
He replied only that he ‘could easily be’ prime minister, adding: ‘Of course, we could do without the anti-Semitism because it allows you to ask me that question on the Today programme. We need to close these issues down and we do it by being absolutely vigilant in the way we deal with racism in our own ranks. That’s on all of us.’
It came a day after the suspension of Labour MP Chris Williamson, a close ally of Mr Corbyn, over his claims that the party has been ‘too apologetic’ about the issue.
The Labour deputy leader said Mr Williamson was ‘entitled to a fair hearing.’ But he added: ‘I’ve been very, very concerned that his comments have almost been deliberately inflammatory and causing offence to not just parliamentary colleagues but people in the Jewish community.’
Mr Watson later said he wants the inquiry into Mr Williamson’s case to be ‘very quick’, and that it should be a matter of ‘weeks not months in my view’. He also denied he was Mr Corbyn’s deputy, telling the BBC: ‘I’m not actually Jeremy’s deputy. I was elected by 200,000 Labour Party members.’
From yesterday's Daily Mail
He added: ‘I have my own mandate and I have a responsibility in light of that, which is why I am speaking out now ... I’ve asked to see Jeremy on Monday next week to talk about how we can further improve our measures to deal with anti-Semitism.’
Mr Watson described last week’s resignation of Jewish MP Luciana Berger as ‘the worst day of shame in the Labour Party’s 120-year history’, saying a pregnant young MP had been ‘bullied out of her own party by racist thugs’.
Miss Berger was one of nine MPs to quit the party last week, many of them citing anti-Semitism. Mr Watson warned more could follow them over the leadership’s failure, telling ITV’s Good Morning Britain: ‘I don’t think we can apologise enough for anti-Semitism in our ranks.
‘The only way we will rebuild trust with the British Jewish community is to deal with anti-Semitism as the number one issue in my party. And I’m going to do it, because I’m not going to allow half a million Labour Party members to be tainted by racism.
‘I’ve said there’s a battle for Labour’s soul. I’m worried that colleagues feel they want to go.
‘I’m doing my best, but we are perilously close to other colleagues leaving. I just say to them again, “Stay and fight your corner”.’
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2019/03/01/corbyn-did-all-he-could-to-save-ally-chris-williamson-claims-labour-mp/
Main photo article A Labour MP claimed yesterday that Jeremy Corbyn ‘did all he could’ to defend his close ally Chris Williamson before his suspension.
Siobhain McDonagh said the Labour leader tried to ‘personally defend’ Mr Williamson – while a party source suggested he had asked chief whip Nick Brown not to remov...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/03/01/00/10433436-6758603-image-a-5_1551399048043.jpg
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