Peter Willsman

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Peter Rupert William Willsman (born February 1944) is a British political activist who was a member of the Labour Party's National Executive Committee and the secretary of the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy.

He was suspended from the Labour Party and the NEC in May 2019, pending investigation, after publicity over making allegedly antisemitic comments.

Early life and career[]

Willsman was born in Andover in 1944.

He worked for the National Union of Public Employees as a researcher.[1][2][3]

Political activism[]

As a delegate representing Canterbury's constituency party to Labour's 1976 conference, Willsman unsuccessfully moved a resolution to make comprehensive education compulsory by 1977, rather than maintaining a system with grammar schools and independent schools.[4]

From the 1970s, Willsman has been a central member of the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy, a left-wing group that campaigns for more power to be given to party members, and is its secretary.[5][6][7][8]

Every year between 1981 and 1994, Willsman was elected onto the Labour Party's Conference Arrangements Committee. He was described as one of the left wing of the party's "key strategists" in 1981, having focused on party constitutional issues rather than ideological issues.[9][10] In his time on this committee, Willsman had a reputation for his expertise on process.[6]

Having lost his seat on this committee in 1994, he was elected to the party's disciplinary National Constitutional Committee in 1995.[5]

Willsman has been a long-term, though intermittent, member of Labour's ruling body, the National Executive Committee (NEC). He was first elected in 1998 on a Grassroots Alliance slate.[11] Having failed to win a seat in 2014, Willsman was elected with Momentum support in 2016, coming sixth in the section representing members.[8][12][13] For the 2018 elections to the NEC, Willsman was included on Momentum's slate of promoted candidates due to his role as chair of the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy.[14][15]

During a meeting in 2016, Willsman declared that he wanted the party to split to "get rid of the Blairites".[8][16] In 2017, he said some disloyal Labour MPs "deserve to be attacked", though sources present at the meeting said it was clear that he meant the MPs should be criticised, rather than face physical violence.[17][15][18]

Antisemitism allegations[]

In July 2018, Willsman was recorded during an NEC discussion on the party's disciplinary code and antisemitism as saying that he had "never seen" antisemitism in the Labour Party. He claimed that those making the accusations were "Trump fanatics" who were "making up duff information without any evidence at all".[19][20] He was criticised by The Guardian and some Labour politicians,[20][21][22][23] Marie van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, called for Willsman to be expelled[20] and the Jewish Labour Movement made a formal complaint.[24][25] After Willsman apologised, party chair Jennie Formby warned that a repeat occurrence would result in disciplinary action.[26] Momentum withdrew its support for his candidacy for the NEC, even though voting had commenced, describing his remarks as "deeply insensitive and inappropriate",[27][28] although he retained the support of Jewish Voice for Labour.[29][24][30] He came in ninth place and was re-elected in the expanded section representing members:[31] when other members of the Momentum slate asked him to resign given the late withdrawal of Momentum's endorsement, Willsman declined.[32]

In May 2019, a recording of Willsman emerged from an informal conversation he had had with Israeli-American undercover author Tuvia Tenenbom in January 2019, which Willsman had been unaware was being recorded. Willsman had said "Almost certainly it was the Israeli embassy (behind the antisemitism allegations). They caught somebody in the Labour Party. It turns out they were an agent in the Israeli Embassy". In 2017, the influential documentary series, The Lobby, an investigation by Al Jazeera, had been broadcast, focusing on the activities of an Israeli embassy official in the Labour Party and more widely. Willsman also said that an open letter on the issue signed by 68 rabbis the previous year was "obviously organised by the Israeli embassy".[33][34] Willsman's comments were widely condemned, with several members of the NEC and Labour MPs calling for his expulsion,[35] although Jewish Voice for Labour’s Mike Cushman said “It is Pete’s claims that the embassy has managed to infiltrate the party that should be the subject of urgent investigation, not Pete’s actions in drawing our attentions to the possibility".[36] Later that month, Willsman was suspended from the party over the allegation, pending investigation.[37]

References[]

  1. ^ Wilkinson, Michael (23 November 2015). "Labour MPs who criticise Jeremy Corbyn online to be 'silenced'". Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  2. ^ James E. Cronin (17 September 2016). New Labour's Pasts: The Labour Party and Its Discontents. Taylor & Francis. pp. 257–. ISBN 978-1-317-87391-4.
  3. ^ Robin Oakley (3 September 2001). Inside track. Bantam. ISBN 978-0-593-04769-9.
  4. ^ Staff, Parliamentary (1 October 1976). "Forceful Mrs Williams wins a victory for moderation". The Times.
  5. ^ a b Liz., Davies (2001). Through the looking glass : a dissenter inside New Labour. London: Verso. ISBN 1859846092. OCLC 47068616.
  6. ^ a b Kogan, David (22 September 1981). "How the Left won control of the Labour Party". The Times.
  7. ^ "Activists Vow To Protect Corbyn From Labour MPs' 'Plot'". HuffPost UK. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  8. ^ a b c "Who's who on Labour's National Executive Committee?". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  9. ^ Nicholas, Comfort (30 September 1981). "Tribute to Shankly the Labour supporter". The Daily Telegraph.
  10. ^ Kogan, David (23 September 1981). "Quietening the hard men and pulling in the big block votes". The Times.
  11. ^ "Through the Looking Glass by Liz Davies (I)". the Guardian. 29 March 2001. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  12. ^ "How The Labour Left's Resurgence Started In 2010". HuffPost UK. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  13. ^ "Jeremy Corbyn is taking total control of Labour and nobody can stop him". Business Insider. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  14. ^ "Pete Willsman is the true face of Labour's anti-Semitism problem". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  15. ^ a b "Jeremy Corbyn secures big victory on Labour's national executive committee". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  16. ^ "How Labour's NEC Backed Corbyn". HuffPost UK. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  17. ^ "Corbyn Boost As NEC Approves 'Power To The Members' Plan". HuffPost UK. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  18. ^ PoliticsHome.com (20 September 2017). "EXCL Senior Labour official criticised after claiming anti-Corbyn MPs 'deserve to be attacked'". PoliticsHome.com. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  19. ^ Harpin, Lee (30 July 2019). "Bombshell tape shows Jeremy Corbyn ally blamed 'Jewish Trump fanatics' for inventing Labour antisemitism". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  20. ^ a b c Bowman, Verity; Crerar, Pippa (31 July 2018). "Corbyn ally says 'Jewish Trump fanatics making up' antisemitism claims". the Guardian. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  21. ^ Editorial (5 September 2018). "The Guardian view on Jeremy Corbyn's Labour: it must be an anti-racist party | Editorial". the Guardian. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  22. ^ Maidment, Jack (14 October 2018). "Labour activist who blamed anti-Semitism row on 'Trump fanatics' should not have been re-elected to party's ruling body, suggests Shami Chakrabarti". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  23. ^ "Labour Exec Committee Candidate Urges Members To 'Defend Corbyn' Against Anti-Semitism 'Smears'". HuffPost UK. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  24. ^ a b "Pete Willsman re-elected to Labour's National Executive Committee despite antisemitism denial rant". www.thejc.com. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  25. ^ "JLM makes formal complaint about Labour NEC member who denied party had antisemitism crisis". www.thejc.com. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  26. ^ "Labour NEC member dodges formal investigation for inflammatory antisemitism remarks". www.thejc.com. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  27. ^ Crerar, Pippa; Marsh, Sarah (1 August 2018). "Antisemitism row: Momentum drops Peter Willsman from NEC re-election list". the Guardian. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  28. ^ "Momentum withdraws support for Labour member after 'deeply insensitive' remarks". The Argus. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  29. ^ Dean, Alex. "Interview: Lisa Nandy—the challenges facing the Labour Party". Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  30. ^ "Chris Williamson: 'I don't know what you mean by contemporary anti-Semitism'". Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  31. ^ Sabbagh, Dan (3 September 2018). "Labour activist in antisemitism row re-elected to ruling body". the Guardian. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  32. ^ "Pete Willsman urged to quit NEC by fellow left-wingers". Jewish News. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  33. ^ https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/labour-s-pete-willsman-recorded-ranting-the-israeli-embassy-is-fuelling-antisemitism-crisis-1.484944[bare URL]
  34. ^ "Peter Willsman: Labour suspends NEC member over anti-Semitism remarks". BBC News. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  35. ^ "Corbyn ally Peter Willsman suspended after 'antisemitic rant'". Sky News. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  36. ^ Sagir, Ceren (31 May 2019). "Labour in row over Israeli interference after Willsman suspension". Morning Star. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  37. ^ "Labour anti-Semitism row official suspended". 31 May 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
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