Professor David Miller has resigned from Labour blaming “the Zionist movement” only weeks after he was suspended from the party over allegations that did not involve antisemitism claims.
The Bristol University sociology lecturer confirmed in a statement he had received two letters from Labour’s Governance and Legal Unit outlining allegations which meant he “may be in breach” of party rules.
But announcing his decision to resign ahead of the conclusion of the investigations into his conduct, Mr Miller wrote that he believed his suspension “has much to do with my record of evidence-based research on the Zionist movement and its influence on the British left and British politics more widely”.
He added that “my work shows the Zionist movement is an actually existing transnational network of organisations, which work tirelessly to justify Israel’s ongoing dispossession of the Palestinians. It works in collaboration with the leading Western imperial powers, most obviously the US and UK.”
In April the JC reported on Prof Miller's appearance in an online broadcast hosted by former Labour MP Chris Williamson, entitled ‘Debate on the contents of and fallout from the #LabourLeaks document’.
During the broadcast, the lecturer claimed Sir Keir is "obviously not going to" conduct "a proper investigation" into the leaked Labour antisemitism report because he has been "in receipt of money from the Zionist movement."
This weekend a report in The Times detailed how Prof Miller is a director of a group known as the Organisation for Propaganda Studies (OPS), which has promoted theories about the September 11 terrorist attacks, the shooting down of an airliner over Ukraine in 2014, the White Helmets humanitarian rescue group in Syria, the anti-vax movement and the origins of coronavirus.
The report claimed Mr Miller had also been threatened with disciplinary action for bringing his university into disrepute.
Last year, the Community Security Trust had highlighted how he was “teaching his students that a wide range of British Jewish groups are one of the most important causes of Islamophobia today”.
Mark Gardner, the CST’s Director of Communications, added: "This vile slur includes the Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council, CST and others, including groups that focus on Israel, such as Bicom, UJIA, ZF and JNF.''
The CST supplied Bristol University with a copy of a slide it said had been used in a lecture that listed the “Zionist movement (parts of)” as one of the “five pillars” of Islamophobia.
The Jewish security group called Bristol University "an utter disgrace" over its response to the complaint and the failure to take action.
In 2018 Prof Miller suggested that most claims of antisemitism in the Labour Party were false.
This April, Prof Miller appeared alongside Asa Winstanley, who recently quit Labour ahead of an antisemitism expulsion hearing, and Kerry-Anne Mendoza, editor of The Canary, a pro-Corbyn website that regularly peddles conspiracy theories.
Addressing the controversial leaked report, Prof Miller said: "We are obviously not going to get a proper investigation of this by Comrade Starmer or by Lisa Nandy – who have been in receipt of money from the Zionist movement, from Trevor Chinn.
"And connections between the Zionist movement and the current leadership of Labour Party - it’s not the only people they have connections with.
"Many other super rich people have given them money, hedge fund owners and the like – but a significant element of support has come from the Zionist movement."
