Derby North MP Chris Williamson has won his High Court case the Labour Party acted unlawfully in re-suspending him.

Chris Williamson was suspended in February after The Yorkshire Post published a video of him addressing the ongoing concerns of the Labour Party and its handling of anti-Semitism allegations.

He was readmitted to the party and issued with a formal warning following a hearing of a National Executive Committee (NEC) anti-Semitism panel in June

After the NEC ruling to readmit Chris Williamson Tom Watson lead a petition to have Chris Williamson readmission overturned. The decision and ruling by a three-person disciplinary panel was to allow Williamson, the Derby North MP, back into the parliamentary party with a reprimand.

The judge also confirmed that Chris’ ‘re-suspension’ must have been motivated by media hysteria. The judge said: “it is not … difficult to infer that the true reason for the decision in this case was that [NEC] members … were influenced by the ferocity of the outcry following the June decision.”

In fact, the party’s decision was so unfair as to be unlawful: Chris’ original suspension has been quashed, and all of the allegations presented in that suspension can no longer be pursued against him.

In a twist the Labour Party issued Chris Williamson with a with another suspension on September 3 – one week before the court hearing –  In Chris’ words, this third suspension was “based on a series of preposterous allegations that I answered fully and swiftly.”

The judge ruled that there was “nothing in the new allegations, the timing of the letter of 3 September or the decision to suspend that entitles me to take the view upon the papers that the Labour party is acting either unfairly or other than in good faith”. He added: “I therefore refuse relief in respect of Mr Williamson’s recent re-suspension. The new disciplinary case must run its course” (the full judgement is available here).

This new suspension is not just absurd, it shows to what length the Labour bureaucracy will go in its futile campaign to try and appease the right in the party. Presumably, Chris’ case will now be referred to the party’s National Constitutional Committee. Despite various reforms, this is still dominated by the right, a section of the union bureaucracy and a weak left that gives in to the witch-hunt.

No doubt, the idea is to keep Chris suspended for as long as possible: Should a general election be called soon, he will not be able stand as a Labour Party candidate.

Chris Williamson still remains one of the most popular Left wing MP’s 

The battle within the PLP and Party machinery continues, Chris Williamson was and still is one of Corbyn’s most loyal lieutenant’s and the very reason why Chris Williamson is also one of many casualties in this long coup to remove and alienate the most popular and Left wing Labour leader in generations. The Blarites are still running the machinery.

Echoing the words of LAW “How many more Corbyn supporters and socialists will have to be thrown to the wolves before Labour Party HQ understands that the right will never stop, they will never be appeased!

Jackie Walker, Marc Wadsworth, Ken Livingstone, Pete Willsman and the many hundreds of Corbyn supporters who have been smeared, investigated and expelled – they are nothing but collateral damage. The real target of the campaign is, of course, Jeremy Corbyn himself.

The right will not accept him as leader of the Labour Party, let alone prime minister. They will continue their campaign of sabotage, because he remains unreliable from the ruling class’s point of view, especially given his strong support for the rights of Palestinians.

It is high time that Jeremy Corbyn and the rest of the Labour leadership stand up and say: Enough is enough!”

A statement by Chris Williamson MP:

The High Court has today judged that the Labour Party acted unlawfully in re-suspending me on 28 June, and “that there was no proper reason” for doing so.

I’m glad the ‘re-suspension’ has been quashed. However, I’m currently suspended.

It’s clear that my ‘re-suspension’ was motivated by media hysteria. The judge said: “it is not … difficult to infer that the true reason for the decision in this case was that [NEC] members … were influenced by the ferocity of the outcry following the June decision.”

In fact, the party’s decision was so unfair as to be unlawful. And that’s why my ‘re-suspension’ has been quashed, and all of the allegations presented in that suspension can no longer be pursued against me.

Yet a week prior to my court hearing – using every loophole in the book – the party bureaucracy issued me with a new suspension, based on a series of preposterous allegations that I answered fully and swiftly.

Due to this, despite winning today, the latest suspension stands.

I know this will be a bitter disappointment to everyone who has supported me in this case. I’m outraged that membership subscriptions given by our loyal activists have been used to pay legal fees. I’m outraged that I’ve had to resort to legal means to achieve justice.

This is a damning indictment of our party’s internal disciplinary procedures, which require a total overhaul – towards a fairer, more independent and more democratic system. My suspension must now be lifted.

I will be focussing my energies, as we all should, on winning the next election. Because a Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour government could transform the lives of millions, by bringing about an irreversible shift in the balance of wealth power and income in our country.

I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to my family, my supporters and everyone who generously donated to my crowdfunder. Without you, this victory today wouldn’t have been possible.

You are the living proof that ‘unity is strength’.

Williamson’s lawyers argued that his treatment had been “manifestly unfair” and asked the court to declare his suspension from the party void.

Ruling on Thursday, Justice Pepperall said Labour’s decision in July to suspend Williamson was unlawful because the party failed to follow the rules and questioned the party’s evidence that claimed Keith Vaz was unfit to be involved in the judgment.

The Leicester East MP had sat on the three-member panel that agreed to let Williamson back into the party in June and had called for the decision to suspend him again shortly afterwards to be reviewed.

However, the judge found there was “nothing in the new allegations, the timing of the letter of 3 September or the decision to suspend that entitles me to take the view upon the papers that the Labour party is acting either unfairly or other than in good faith”.

He added: “While the Labour party is no longer able lawfully to pursue the original disciplinary case against Mr Williamson, that does not afford him immunity from any subsequent disciplinary action.”

Chris Williamson tweeted after the ruling: “The battle is won. The war rages on. The high court has today judged that the Labour party acted unlawfully in re-suspending me and ‘that there was no proper reason’ for doing so. I’m glad the ‘re-suspension’ has been quashed. However, I’m currently suspended.”

The battle is won. The war rages on.

The High Court has today judged that the Labour Party acted unlawfully in re-suspending me on 28 June, and “that there was no proper reason” for doing so.

I’m glad the ‘re-suspension’ has been quashed. However, I’m currently suspended. 1/8

— Chris Williamson MP #GTTO (@DerbyChrisW) October 10, 2019

A Labour party spokesperson said: “The court has upheld Chris Williamson’s suspension from the party and has said his disciplinary case must run its course.”

I stand with Chris Williamson: Watson and his vigilante’s must go.

#IStandWithChrisWilliamson