Birkenhead Labour Party members have overwhelmingly backed a motion calling for suspended MP Chris Williamson to be “immediately” reinstated “in line with the High Court judgement.”
At this month’s meeting of the Constituency Labour Party - which once made false claims about links between the Israeli government and Isis – only a handful of members voiced opposition to the motion among 50 people in attendance.
In further discussion, one local member also suggested that Dame Louise Ellman, who represented the neighbouring Liverpool Riverside seat before she quit the party this month, was a member of a “Zionist organisation” – clearly a reference to her involvement with Labour Friends of Israel.
A source told the JC: "There were around 50 people at the CLP meeting and only around six voted against the Chris Williamson motion.”
Mr Williamson – who has been accused by the Board of Deputies of “Jew baiting” over his repeated interventions over Labour antisemitism - lost a High Court bid to be reinstated in Labour after he was suspended.
A ruling earlier this month said the party acted “in good faith” by launching an investigation after Mr Williamson claimed party members were being demonised for political reasons but said the party had failed to follow the rules when it re-suspended Mr Williamson in June, days after readmitting him.
But the court upheld his suspension.
Minutes of a Birkenhead CLP meeting in November 2017 showed that the CLP decided to reject a training course on antisemitism conducted by the Jewish Labour Movement after it was suggested it was “not going ahead due to possible links with Isis and the Israeli government.”
More recently Birkenhead CLP members supported a letter written by a hard-left activist, investigated over antisemitism claims, which stated that “pro-Israel Labour MPs” would “prefer a pro-Israel Conservative government to a socialist Labour government, critical of Israel.”
MP Frank Field has represented the Birkenhead constituency for Labour until August last year – but he resigned the party whip that month citing antisemitism in the party.
A former Minister for Welfare Reform in Tony Blair’s government, Mr Field will now stand as an independent.