Ex-Labour MP stripped of Commons pass over ties to Iranian state TV

Ex-Labour MP and Jeremy Corbyn ally Chris Williamson is stripped of Commons pass over his ‘unacceptable’ role as a host on Iranian state TV as committee rules he ‘risks bringing Parliament into disrepute’

• Ex-Labour MP Chris Williamson has had his parliamentary pass suspended
• He had held one of more than 300 security passes doled out to former MPs
• Action has been taken over concerns about his role with Iranian state TV

Ex-Labour MP Chris Williamson has lost his access to Parliament over his ‘unacceptable’ role as a host on Iranian state TV.

The former shadow minister, a staunch ally of ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, was MP for Derby North between 2017 and 2019.

Up until this week, he had continued to enjoy privileged access to Parliament by holding one of more than 300 passes doled out to former MPs.

But his pass has now been suspended until further notice after concerns were raised about his work for Iran’s PressTV.

The 66-year-old also recently caused fury by claiming Volodymyr Zelensky is ‘backed by literal Nazis’ on the day the Ukrainian President made his historic address to Parliament.

Senior Conservative MP Sir Charles Walker, the chair of the Administration Committee, wrote to Chris Williamson yesterday to inform him that his pass was being suspended

As revealed by MailOnline, the House of Commons’ Administration Committee met on Monday to review Mr Williamson’s holding of a parliamentary pass.

Senior Conservative MP Sir Charles Walker, the chair of the committee, subsequently wrote to Mr Williamson yesterday to inform him that his pass was being suspended.

‘The Administration Committee met and decided to suspend your parliamentary pass until further notice,’ he wrote.

‘The Committee considered that your continued presence on PressTV, a broadcaster that has been banned in the UK and multiple other countries, is unacceptable and risks bringing Parliament into disrepute.’

But Mr Williamson told MailOnline he intended to ask Sir Charles to rethink the suspension of his pass as hit hit out at the ‘absurdity and inconsistency’ of the committee’s position.

Mr Williamson has seen his Twitter account branded ‘Iran state-affiliated media’ by social media bosses over his role as a host of PressTV’s ‘Palestine Declassified’ show.

PressTV, which is owned by the Iranian state, has been banned in Britain since 2013 after breaching the UK’s broadcasting rules.

The channel was also recently sanctioned by the EU as part of the bloc’s response to Iran’s violent crackdown on demonstrations following the death of Mahsa Amini.

Mr Williamson was MP for Derby North between 2017 and 2019 and served as a shadow minister under former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn

The 66-year-old has been a host of Iranian state-owned PressTV’s ‘Palestine Declassified’ show since March 2022

Mr Williamson recently angered serving MPs by claiming Volodymyr Zelensky is ‘backed by literal Nazis’ on the day the Ukrainian President made his historic address to Parliament

As well as expressing concern at his role with PressTV, MPs recently reacted with fury to Mr Williamson’s Twitter posts about Mr Zelensky’s speech to Parliament this month.

He branded the Ukrainian President a ‘neo-Nazi backed hypocrite’, claimed Mr Zelensky was ‘backed by literal Nazis’, and hit out at current Tory and Labour MPs who ‘salivate about escalating the war in Ukraine’.

One MP, a former Government minister, suggested to MailOnline that Mr Williamson was ‘basically’ repeating Russian propaganda about the Ukrainian leader, who is Jewish.

When Vladimir Putin began his invasion of Ukraine last year, his stated goal was to ‘denazify’ Russia’s neighbour.

After having his parliamentary pass suspended, Mr Williamson said: ‘I wasn’t surprised by the decision to withdraw my parliamentary pass. The political class has been gripped a kind of hypocritical hysteria.

‘The grounds for the arbitrary cancellation of my pass are absurd. They claim that my presence on PressTV “risks bringing parliament into disrepute”.

‘But it’s their attack on free speech that is bringing Parliament into disrepute, not the fact that I present a weekly programme on PressTV about Palestine’s struggle for freedom.

‘Although I have never used my pass since I left Parliament in 2019, there is an important point of principle at stake here. I am being targeted for speaking up for the Palestinian people and for exposing the brutal Israeli apartheid regime.

‘If there was a genuine, (if wholly unjustified) concern about associating with Iran, former government ministers Jack Straw and Norman Lamont would be targeted. 

‘They are the chair and president respectively of the British Iranian Chamber of Commerce, which lobbies to increase trade between Iran and Britain.

‘I hope this authoritarian intolerance will not extend to them just because they’re promoting trade between the two countries, which was worth £670 million last year, an increase of 114 per cent on the previous year.

‘I therefore intend to write back to Sir Charles Walker, the chair of the committee, to ask them to think again in view of the absurdity and inconsistency of their position.’

Mr Williamson’s Twitter account is officially flagged as ‘Iran state-affiliated media’ on the social media site

Mr Williamson this month branded the Ukrainian President a ‘neo-Nazi backed hypocrite’ and claimed Mr Zelensky, who is Jewish, was ‘backed by literal Nazis’

All ex-MPs are eligible for passes that give them access to Parliament – although the authorities can refuse in some circumstances.   

According to official records, Mr Williamson has held a pass since July 2020.

This was seven months after he failed to be re-elected as Derby North’s MP when standing as an independent candidate at the 2019 general election.

Mr Williamson was blocked from standing as an official Labour candidate following his suspension from the party.

This came after he claimed Labour had been ‘too apologetic’ about its record on tackling antisemitism.

He has been a host of PressTV’s ‘Palestine Declassified’ show since March 2022 after previously appearing as a guest on the channel.

The show has asked whether a UK charity that protects British Jews from antisemitism and related threats, the Community Security Trust, can be ‘trusted’.

Another episode hosted by Mr Williamson in March last year discussed the ‘Zionist influence’ on the music industry.

Mr Williamson’s Twitter account is officially flagged as ‘Iran state-affiliated media’ on the social media site.

But he disputes this by writing in his account bio that he is ‘NOT affiliated to any state media’.

Commons’ Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has previously asked Sir Charles to look into the issuing of parliamentary passes to former MPs.

This followed concerns about whether such passes are being used for lobbying purposes by ex-MPs who take on roles as consultants or advisers.

Ex-MPs have to apply for a former members pass and, if they are found to have breached the rules associated with the pass, it will be brought to the attention of an committee that advises the Commons authorities.

A Commons spokesman has previously said they are unable to comment on individual cases.

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