Hate crime probe into ex-Labour MP dropped in two-tier policing row

Telegraph

11 hours ago

A fresh two-tier policing row has erupted after a force failed to bring charges against a former Labour MP who said Israel has forfeited any right to exist.
Chris Williamson was hugely criticised when he made the comment on X, formerly Twitter, just days after Hamas launched its October 7 attack in 2023.
Mr Williamson told his 149,000 followers on X: 'The people of the world now know that Israel has forfeited the right to exist and that resistance to the genocidal Zionist entity is the only option. Yet our political leaders still collaborate with this vile regime. So make them pay at the ballot box.'
The former Jeremy Corbyn ally became the subject of a hate crime probe after Derbyshire Police received multiple reports about his comments.
Around 18 months later, the force said no action would be taken.
The decision has sparked fresh allegations of 'two-tier policing', a term used to describe the potential for different standards of policing based on an individual's background or politics.
It contrasts with several other cases that have seen individuals who have made comments on social media calling for violence or destruction face arrest, charges and jail time.
Last month, a Jewish protester was arrested and charged by the Metropolitan Police after briefly holding a placard satirising a Hezbollah terrorist leader.
Allison Pearson, a columnist at The Telegraph, was questioned by police at home last year following a post on X following pro-Palestine demonstrations.
Julian Foulkes, a retired special constable, was wrongly cautioned by Kent Police over a social media post warning about the threat of anti-Semitism in Britain.
There is also mounting anger over the case of Lucy Connolly, who was jailed for 31 months for saying hotels housing migrants should be set on fire.
Mr Williamson was criticised after refusing to condemn the attacks when he appeared on Radio 4's Today programme after The Workers Party of Britain, of which he is deputy leader, won the Rochdale by-election with George Galloway, the former MP.
During his BBC interview, Mr Williamson said: 'You can't expect to live in a situation where people have been oppressed for 75 years and not expect a reaction.'
He also claimed that most of those slaughtered on October 7 had been killed by Israeli forces.
But the police said they had now completed their enquiries and that no action would be taken.
A spokesman for Derbyshire Police said: 'Derbyshire Constabulary recorded a non-crime hate incident in October 2023 after receiving reports about a tweet regarding the Israel/Palestine conflict.
'Enquiries then began to establish if a crime had been committed.
'During the course of these enquiries, which included consultations with the Crown Prosecution Service, officers found that the evidential threshold for a crime to have been committed was not met.
'The incident was subsequently filed with no further action and all relevant parties were informed.'
Peter Bleksley, the former Met detective, said: 'This is two-tier policing, plain and simple. One rule for one, one rule for another.
'There is no consistency with these cases and that creates bigger issues for policing as a whole.
'It's a very worrying time.'
A Jewish man in Derby, who did not want to be identified, said he was 'appalled' at the comments. He said: 'Police need to make their minds up on what action and direction they are taking.'
Mr Williamson, 68, was the former Labour MP for Derby North and the shadow local government minister from 2010 to 2013.
He was suspended from Labour in 2019 after he claimed the party had been 'too apologetic' in response to allegations of anti-Semitism.
Labour's National Executive Committee blocked Mr Williamson from standing as a Labour candidate in the 2019 general election. He resigned from the Labour Party and stood as an Independent, losing the seat. In July 2023, he joined the Workers Party of Britain.