Local Momentum branches who invite suspended Labour MP Chris Williamson to their meetings are giving British Jews a “calculated V sign”, the Board of Deputies has told the leftwing Labour campaign group.
Mr Williamson, whom the party suspended over his "pattern of behaviour" over the party's antisemitism crisis, tweeted he appeared at a meeting of the Ramsgate branch of the group on Monday, which he said was “excellent”.
Excellent #MayDay2019 meeting in Ramsgate yesterday evening organised and hosted by @MomentumThanet1
— Chris Williamson MP #GTTO (@DerbyChrisW) May 7, 2019
Huge privilege to share the platform with speakers from @ExtinctionR and @JVoiceLabour
Great to meet some of the newly elected Labour councillors in Thanet too pic.twitter.com/zdnzJqlYpb
He also, it is believed, spoke at a meeting of Bedford Momentum in recent weeks, as well as a trades union meeting in Croydon’s Ruskin House on Thursday night.
The Jewish Labour Movement called for Mr Williamson's suspension last summer but the party did not until this February, when the Derby North MP was had the whip withdrawn for saying at a Momentum event the party had been “too apologetic” over antisemitism.
WATCH: Chris Williamson tells a Sheffield Momentum meeting that Labour has been "too apologetic" about anti-Semitism... pic.twitter.com/zxtKdHQPvw
— Liz Bates (@wizbates) February 26, 2019
The Board of Deputies recently commended Momentum for a video on the “problem of antisemitism on the left”, but said that “clearly, the Bedford and Ramsgate branches have not received the memo”.
A spokesman said: “Inviting Chris Williamson MP to speak is a calculated V sign to the Jewish community.
“This is a man who was suspended over antisemitism having baited the Jewish community multiple times.
“We expect Momentum explicitly to tell its branches not to invite speakers who have been suspended by the party – something they should already know and understand.”
Momentum has been approached for comment.
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