Labour member suspended for calling Tom Watson 'Judas' is allowed back into party
2 min read
A Labour party member who was suspended for comparing Tom Watson to Judas for taking money from Jewish donors has been re-admitted to the party.
George McManus was forced to apologise after posting the comments on his Facebook page.
Sharing an Observer article on the Labour deputy leader saying his party faced "eternal shame" if it did not deal with anti-Semitism in its ranks, Mr McManus wrote: "Apparently Electoral Commission states that Watson received £50,000+ from Jewish donors. At least Judas only got 30 pieces of silver."
Mr McManus was also condemned by Labour campaign group Momentum, who said: "We understand that he has now rightly been suspended from Labour. We will not tolerate any anti-Semitism, racism or online abuse from candidates we support."
The party activist, who is a member of the Beverley and Holderness Labour branch in east Yorkshire, deleted his original post and apologised.
He said: "I'd like to apologise to Tom Watson and to the Jewish community for my drawing an analogy between him accepting money from Jewish donors and the biblical story of the betrayal by Judas.
"I fully accept that such an analogy is wrong and am sorry for making the comparison."
PoliticsHome understands that Tom Watson has never personally received an apology from Mr McManus, who revealed on Twitter that he had been re-admitted by Labour.
A Labour spokesperson said: "The Labour party takes all complaints of antisemitism extremely seriously and we are committed to challenging and campaigning against it in all its forms. All complaints about antisemitism are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken."
In his party conference speech yesterday, Jeremy Corbyn said: "I say this to all in the Jewish community: This party, this movement, will always be implacable campaigners against antisemitism and racism in all its forms. We are your ally."
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