Chris Williamson: Tom Watson demands Labour suspends MP who claimed party was 'too apologetic' over antisemitism

Deputy leader calls for whip to be stripped from Jeremy Corbyn’s ally, amid mounting anger in the party over his behaviour

Labour’s deputy leader is demanding the suspension of backbench MP Chris Williamson after he claimed the party had been “too apologetic” over antisemitism.

Tom Watson is writing to Labour’s chief whip calling for the whip to be stripped from Jeremy Corbyn’s ally, amid mounting anger over his behaviour in the party, The Independent has learned.

In a recorded speech, Mr Williamson also claimed that Labour's response to complaints of anti-Semitism had contributed to the party being “demonised”.

One Labour MP, Phil Wilson, condemned Mr Williamson’s speech as “outrageous”, saying: “I think he should be suspended from the Labour party.”

The Labour party has described the comments, from a meeting hosted by grassroots group Momentum, and published by the Yorkshire Post on Tuesday night, as “deeply offensive and inappropriate”.

Mr Watson has already described the Derby North MP’s comments as “deliberately inflammatory” – and the controversy will be raised in a meeting between senior MPs and the leadership later today.

They triggered a furious reaction from other Labour MPs, including Birmingham Yardley MP Jess Phillips, who said they seemed “specifically designed to upset”, adding: “Must be disciplined.”

Stephen Doughty, the Cardiff South MP tweeted: “This conduct is unacceptable and has no place in our party. I have made clear to both the leader's office and our whips that I expect urgent action to be taken.”

In the clip, from a meeting in Sheffield, Mr Williamson is recorded saying Labour had “given too much ground” over the antisemitism controversy.

The leftwinger also said he had celebrated the resignation of former Labour MP Joan Ryan, who defected to join The Independent Group of MPs last week.

“The party that has done more to stand up to racism is now being demonised as a racist, bigoted party,” Mr Williamson said.

“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 on too much, we have given too much ground, we have been too apologetic.”

In his letter, Mr Watson is likely to point to Labour’s new code of conduct, adopted last autumn, which states: “Any behaviour which incites racism, including antisemitism and Islamophobia, or undermines Labour's ability to campaign against any form of racism, is unacceptable conduct within the Labour party.”

Last month, Mr Corbyn defended the MP saying: “Chris Williamson is a very good, very effective Labour MP. He’s a very strong anti-racist campaigner. He is not antisemitic in any way.”

However, he was removed as emergency services spokesman in January 2018, after straying from his brief to call for council tax to be doubled for better-off homes.

A Labour spokesman said: “These comments are deeply offensive and inappropriate and fall below the standards we expect of MPs.

“Downplaying the problem of antisemitism makes it harder for us to tackle it. Chris Williamson should apologise immediately and withdraw his remarks.”