Leader backs me, says activist kicked out over anti-Semitism
A LABOUR activist expelled from the party for a verbal attack on a Jewish MP yesterday claimed Jeremy Corbyn did not believe he had done anything wrong.
Marc Wadsworth said he had received ‘behind the scenes’ support from the Labour leader’s office during his hearing.
Labour’s disciplinary body ruled Mr Wadsworth’s behaviour at the launch of an anti-Semitism report – when he accused MP Ruth Smeeth of working with the Right-wing media – had been ‘grossly detrimental to the party’.
The activist claimed Mr Corbyn had said he ‘doesn’t see that I did anything wrong’. He said the leader’s office had called him on the day of his hearing, adding: ‘They wanted me to know they backed me.’
A Labour source denied offering support, but said a member of staff had contacted one of Mr Wadsworth’s supporters to reduce the risk of ‘incidents’ outside the hearing, which began on Wednesday.
The source claimed the phone was passed to Mr Wadsworth, who made clear he was ‘unhappy’ Mr Corbyn had not backed him or responded to attempts to contact him. Mr Wadsworth had accused Mrs Smeeth of ‘working hand in hand’ with the Daily Telegraph during a tirade at the launch of Chakrabarti report in 2016.
He said yesterday that the letter he received cancelling his membership said his behaviour had brought the party into disrepute and embarrassed the leader, adding: ‘Well, the leader has told mutual friends he wasn’t embarrassed because he doesn’t see that I did anything wrong.’
Asked if Mr Corbyn’s office had supported his case, he said: ‘When they called me on the first day of the hearing, they said to me that they had been working behind the scenes, that what I said wasn’t anti-Semitic.’ It came as ex-London mayor Ken Livingstone told LBC he had been door-knocking for Labour despite being suspended from the party over remarks linking Adolf Hitler and Zionism.