Activist who made Jewish MP weep jokes with Jeremy
A HARD-left activist who left a Jewish MP in tears at an antiSemitism event was seen laughing with Jeremy Corbyn soon afterwards.
Marc Wadsworth, who accused Ruth Smeeth of being part of a Right-wing media conspiracy, was yesterday expelled from the party.
Footage showed Mr Corbyn laughing with the grassroots supporter moments after the incident.
The Labour leader subsequently apologised twice to Mr Wadsworth, who replied: ‘I outed Smeeth, bloody talking to the Torygraph [a reference to the Daily Telegraph].’
In footage posted online, Mr Corbyn revealed he was close enough with Mr Wadsworth to have his phone number, saying: ‘I sent you a text.’
The dialogue emerged after Labour’s attempt to address anti-Semitism in its ranks descended into farce on Thursday.
Before a meeting on the issue, activists from the Corbyn- supporting group Momentum handed out leaflets calling for ‘traitor’ MPs to be deselected.
Mr Wadsworth, who runs Momentum Black Connexions, refused to hand Mrs Smeeth a leaflet when he found out she was an MP. As he accused her of being part of a conspiracy, Mr Corbyn stood by.
Mrs Smeeth, a previously loyal MP, then stormed out and demanded that Mr Corbyn resign, saying under him Labour ‘cannot be a safe space for British Jews’. Yesterday Mr Wadsworth told LBC: ‘I’ve received a letter from this very shadowy unit called the constitutional unit and they have summarily expelled me.’
Previously unseen video footage released yesterday showed the activist laughing and joking with the Labour leader.
Mr Corbyn was being ushered away by aides when Mr Wadsworth said to him: ‘I hope I don’t get knocked over by the police this time.’
The leader replied that he was ‘sorry about that.’
Mr Corbyn faces an internal party probe after he was reported to Labour’s compliance unit, which polices the behaviour of members, after comparing Israel to Islamic State during the meeting.