Pete Willsman has been re-elected as a member of the Labour party’s national executive committee, despite causing outage after the JC exposed a recording of hm ranting about Jewish “Trump fanatics” and dismissing claims of antisemitism within Labour.
Mr Willsman was originally part of a “JC9” slate of candidates backed by Labour’s far-left Momentum faction, but Momentum dropped him after the JCpublished the recording of him speaking at the NEC meeting in July.
Listen to Pete Willsman's rant below
However, on Monday afternoon Mr Willsman was re-elected to the NEC, along with the other eight members of the original slate.
In the recording, Mr Willsman can be heard dismissing antisemitism within Labour, saying: “Some of these people in the Jewish community support Trump. They are Trump fanatics and all the rest of it.
"So I am not going to be lectured to by Trump fanatics making up duff information without any evidence at all.”
Mr Willsman also referred to a letter signed by a cross-denominational group of 68 rabbis, denouncing antisemitism within Labour and urging the party’s NEC to adopt the full International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism.
In front of the Labour NEC, including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Mr Willsman said: “I think we should ask the 70 rabbis where is your evidence of severe and widespread antisemitism in this Party?’”
Mr Corbyn reportedly did nothing to stop Mr Willsman from making his remarks.
Mr Willsman also claimed that he had “never seen” antisemitism in the Labour party.
At the Jewish Labour Movement conference on Sunday, Jon Lansman, founder of Momentum, confirmed that he had voted for Mr Willsman as part of the JC9 slate, which Mr Lansman was also on.
Although the JC’s recording was only published after Mr Lansman cast his vote,Mr Lansman was present in the room when Mr Willsman went on his rant.
Despite Momentum dropping Mr Willsman from the JC9 slate, he continued to receive support from a number of people and groups on Labour’s far-left, including Chris Williamson, MP for Derby North, and the fringe Jewish Voice for Labour group.
The Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) made a formal complaint in the wake of Mr Willsman’s remarks, only for Jennie Formby, general secretary of the Labour party, to decline to investigate him after he wrote her an apology for his remarks.
In a statement after the results were announced, the JLM said "it does appear to be one rule for friends of Jeremy [Corbyn] & one rule for others."
We note the election of Willsman to the ruling body of the Labour Party. It does appear to be one rule for friends of Jeremy & one rule for others. Others remain under investigation whilst Willsman faces no further action for insulting community Rabbis representing British Jews.
Jennifer Gerber, director of Labour Friends of Israel, said:
"It is deplorable that Pete Willsman has been re-elected to the NEC and a terrible reflection on Labour's commitment to tackling antisemitism.
"Jeremy Corbyn and Momentum should immediately call upon him not to take his seat, so his shameful remarks do not further taint the party's already tattered reputation."
Amanda Bowman. vice president of the Board of Deputies, said: “The election of Peter Willsman to Labour’s NEC following his reprehensible comments about Jews is deeply concerning.
“This has not been helped by Labour’s appalling attitude to tackling prejudice, as evidenced by Jeremy Corbyn failing to rebuke Peter Willsman during his antisemitic tirade and General Secretary Jennie Formby letting him off the hook. This has all taken place during a summer of equivocation and denial emanating from the Labour leadership.
“To get anywhere near turning the tide and proving that it can return to being an anti-racist party, Labour’s NEC must adopt the full IHRA definition with all its examples tomorrow and then begin taking firm disciplinary action against all those who commit antisemitic acts and bring the party in to disrepute by denying the problem.”
In a final message to Labour voters before polls closed for the NEC last week, Mr Willsman had told HuffPost that they should vote for him to “defend JC [Jeremy Corbyn] against all the appalling and unjust attacks and smears.”
