Pro-Corbyn group withdraws support for Labour's Peter Willsman

Momentum, the grassroots campaign group that backs Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, has said it has withdrawn its support for Peter Willsman as he seeks re-election to the party's ruling body.

Labour NEC member Peter Willsman

Mr Willsman apologised and referred himself for equalities training after calling some members of the Jewish community “Trump fanatics” and suggested they were “making up” problems about anti-Semitism in the party.

The Labour activist is seeing re-election to the National Executive Committee (NEC).

Momentum, in a statement released on Twitter, said: “The elected officers of the national co-ordinating group (NCG) have decided to withdraw Momentum’s support for Pete Willsman in Labour’s ongoing NEC election.

“While it is welcome that he has made a full apology and will attend equalities training, his comments were deeply insensitive and inappropriate for a Momentum-backed NEC candidate.”

The Momentum statement added: “Our movement is more than half a million strong and we must hold those who represent us to an even higher standard than ordinary Labour Party members.

“We must also acknowledge the anger and upset felt within the British Jewish community and reaffirm our commitment to rooting out anti-Semitism both in the party and across society.

“We recognise Pete’s many years of service to the movement. In the coming months, we will review how we choose NEC candidates and work with other groups to make sure that our process is as open and transparent as possible.”