Labour disputes chief quits after defending council candidate who shared article ‘calling Holocaust a hoax’
Momentum member and head of the disciplinary party Christine Shawcroft was ordered by Jeremy Corbyn to step down after it emerged she backed a council candidate who shared an anti-Semitic article
A LABOUR chief in charge of settling party disputes quit last night after it emerged she defended a council candidate who shared an article claiming the Holocaust was a hoax.
Jeremy Corbyn ally Christine Shawcroft, of Momentum, emailed officials to back a party member accused of anti-Semitism.
Alan Bull was accused of sharing bizarre Facebook articles which also claimed Israel and ISIS work together and that Mossad killed President Kennedy.
Screenshots were published by the Jewish News.
But Mr Bull, who planned to stand in Peterborough as a councillor, said they were doctored, and that he had only posted it "for discussion and debate".
The party had been considering a complaint against him for a year before he was suspended last week.
Ms Shawcroft emailed officials to suggest the decision be reversed, insisting the matter was a dispute between factions rather than anti-Semitism, said The Times.
“I think we should reinstate his membership and allow him to stand,” she advised.
She later admitted she’d not looked at Mr Bull’s alleged post, and described her actions as “misguided”.
Last night Jeremy Corbyn insisted that she step down.
She said: "I sent this email before being aware of the full information about this case and I had not been shown the image of his abhorrent Facebook post. Had I seen this image, I would not have requested that the decision to suspend him be reconsidered. I am deeply sorry for having done so."
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Today Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said it was right that she stepped down, but refused to call for her to go from her position on the party's ruling body, the National Executive Committee.
He told Sky News: "She’s in an elected position, it’s up to the electorate to say whether she should be elected again.
"She stood down from the disputes panel because she made a mistake, she didn't look at the evidence properly."
Meanwhile, MP John Woodcock said he could quit in protest at Mr Corbyn’s stance on anti-Semitism and Russia.