‘Friends in high places’ may help to overturn activists’ expulsions

A MEMBER of Labour’s ruling body suggested activists banned from the party could overturn their expulsion if they had “friends in high places”.

Darren Williams, who has sat on the National Executive Committee (NEC) since 2016, also personally intervened when a 17-year-old activist was suspended from the party, saying the move had caused them “great distress”.

The disclosure comes after a submission of evidence to the equality watchdog set out claims by whistle-blowers that allegations of anti-Semitism were made to “disappear” after interventions by Jeremy Corbyn and his senior staff.

One member of staff said: “It became increasingly common for those under investigation to email [Mr Corbyn’s office] or a member of the NEC and, if they were high status enough, the case would disappear.”

Separately, Mr Williams defended Ken Livingstone against anti-Semitism charges, insisting in a tweet that it was “quite wrong” to call for the former

London mayor’s expulsion from Labour. The disclosure is likely to reignite a row sparked by whistle-blowers who alleged last year that Mr Corbyn’s team had repeatedly intervened in disciplinary cases. Screenshots of Mr Williams’s posts were recorded by the GnasherJew Twitter account, which monitors anti-Semitism.

On Oct 18 2016, shortly after being elected to the NEC, Mr Williams, a trade union official, was asked on his Facebook page for advice by an activist concerned about a member of her local party who had been expelled for “a few tweets having a go at the Right”. She added: “Are we seriously saying nothing can be done?” Mr Williams replied: “No, I’m not saying that … But once you’re out of the party – for whatever reason – it’s an uphill struggle to get back in. The member in your area will probably need a good solicitor and/or friends in high places within the party to overturn a penalty that’s intended to stick for at least a couple of years.”

Meanwhile, Mr Williams wrote to the head of Labour’s legal team on April 18 2018 over the case of an activist, then aged 17, who had been suspended. Mr Williams was assured that there was no “safeguarding” risk to the 17-year-old activist, whose membership has since been reinstated and who now serves as a Labour councillor.

Last night Mr Williams said: “Some individuals previously asked me for advice on the party’s rules and procedures when they felt that these weren’t being followed and felt they weren’t being afforded due process.

“This was in the context of ‘the purge’, where many people were excluded and blocked from voting in the leadership campaign when they hadn’t breached the party’s rules.”

A Labour spokesman said the party was “absolutely committed to tackling anti-Semitism in our party and rooting it out of society”.

‘It became common for those under investigation to email [Mr Corbyn’s office] and the case would disappear’