No to the witch-hunt of Chris Williamson!
Oppose the Blairites’ bogus claims of “left anti-Semitism”!
By
Chris Marsden
2 March 2019
The Socialist Equality Party opposes the suspension of Derby North MP Chris Williamson from the Labour Party. His suspension is the product of a reactionary campaign by the Blairite right wing of the Labour Party and media to slander the “left” as anti-Semitic, and must be opposed by all workers and youth.
The capitulation of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his key supporters before this McCarthyite witch-hunt is a betrayal of monstrous proportions—signifying a political and moral collapse from which the Labour “left” will never recover.
On February 27, Corbyn accepted without comment the National Executive Committee’s decision to suspend Williamson, whose sole crime was to reject the accusation that the Labour Party is awash with anti-Semitism. Speaking to a meeting in Sheffield of the pro-Corbyn Momentum group that was published by the Yorkshire Post and released February 26, Williamson told his audience, to applause, that Labour was being “demonised as a racist, bigoted party… I have got to say I think our party’s response has been partly responsible for that because in my opinion… we have backed off too much, we have given too much ground, we have been too apologetic.”
Williamson was immediately accused of condoning anti-Semitism. Wednesday saw 38 MPs from the centre-left Tribune group write an open letter to Labour’s General Secretary demanding that Williamson be suspended. Threats of frontbench resignations and a “totally unprecedented” decision by the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) to ask Williamson to stop attending its meetings followed. Finally, Theresa May demanded action against Williamson…