Hard-left Momentum group backing Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership campaign ‘has secret ties to anti-Semitic organisation’
The movement is reportedly in touch with the Muslim Public Affairs Committee to 'orchestrate' backing for the Labour leader
A HARD-LEFT group which backs Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership campaign has links with an extremist group accused of anti-Semitism to boost his support among Muslims, it has been reported.
An official from Momentum told an undercover reporter she had indirect contact with an organisation called the Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPAC) to 'orchestrate' backing for the Labour leader.
In public Jeremy Corbyn claims to back a new, “kinder” politics, and Momentum insists it rejects “abusive behaviour towards MPs or anyone else”.
But inside the “war rooms” of the grassroots movement, which grew out of Corbyn’s successful leadership campaign last year, there is talk of embarrassing “through proxies” Labour MPs who do not support the leader.
MPAC, which has publicly mocked Holocaust Remembrance Day in the past, has been banned by the National Union of Students from university campuses for the last 12 years because of its extreme views.
And its founder, Asghar Bukhari, once donated cash to Holocaust denier David Irving.
But it has given strong support online to Mr Corbyn’s leadership campaign.
Momentum’s London organiser Faduma Hassan told Mail Online there had been contact through intermediaries but did not appear to have any concerns about the group.
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She said: “I don't know them [MPAC] a lot, I just deal with them whenever I need anything.
When asked about MPAC’s support for Mr Corbyn on its Facebook page, she added: “I am glad they are doing it.
“I didn't even notice.
"That's fantastic, thank you for updating me.”
“You know when you work with a group of people, and you have a meeting with them… so we orchestrate things and then we let it go,” the member of Young Labour’s National Committee added.
MPAC has denied having any contact with Momentum.
On a separate occasion Momentum’s representative in Wandsworth, South London, Rob Lugg, told the undercover reporter there was a covert relationship between MPAC and Momentum.
He said: “I think they're definitely not like, 'Oh, we shouldn't go anywhere near them', but I don't know what the issues are particularly.
“But maybe there are issues that we should just investigate a bit – we might not be able to openly co-operate with each other, but that doesn't mean we can't pass each other information.”
Since the EU referendum, 63 Labour MPs have quit their frontbench positions while 172 voted for a motion of no-confidence in the leader.
Mr Corbyn has raised the prospect of a wholesale purge of dissidents when he announced a “full and open'” selection process in every single seat before the next general election.
In the days before Mr Corbyn’s leadership campaign speech Momentum's national organiser, James Schneider, told backroom staff on how the campaign would be waged.
He made it clear Momentum was prepared to use subterfuge and employ “proxies” for their attacks on MPs so they are not directly linked.
Speaking about the MPs who have resigned from the Shadow Cabinet, he said: “We have to ridicule them and embarrass them through proxies.
“That's the strategy.”
A key proxy employed by Momentum is Novara Media, which Momentum treasurer Michael Chessum has described as “our armed police”.
The main man at Novara is 32-year-old Aaron Bastani, formerly known as Aaron Peters.
He describes himself as a “political commentator” but in the past organised UK Uncut tax protests.
The website is full of tributes to Corbyn, but Mail Online reports one of the articles – a step-by-step guide to 'de-selecting Labour MPs' – was secretly written by a Momentum member and primary school teacher called James McAsh, who is a representative of London Young Labour.
Instead of signing the article, it has been written under the pseudonym Eric Sim.
When Angela Eagle announced she was intending to stand against Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour leadership campaign she faced death threats and a brick was thrown through her office window.
The undercover reporter heard senior Momentum volunteer Sophie Nazemi joking that the group’s campaign of exposing Ms Eagle’s voting record would be cast as ‘low-key bullying’.
And Momentum reportedly sent a ‘spy’ into Conservative HQ during the London mayoral campaign between Tory Zac Goldsmith and Labour's Sadiq Khan.
An MPAC spokesman said the organisation had “never contacted Momentum or been approached by any of its representatives”.
He added the Holocaust Remembrance Day message was posted by a volunteer who was then removed.
Novara Media co-founder Aaron Bastani denied his organisation has become a propaganda wing for Momentum and said: “We are a news organisation, we cover them [Momentum], and if there is a story, obviously we write about them.”
Commenting about the Mail on Sunday investigation, a spokesman for Momentum said: “The Mail on Sunday and Omar Wahid have exploited Momentum's enthusiastic young activists.
“Wahid posed as a socially awkward volunteer of limited competence.
“He was warmly welcomed and in return undermined the trust and generosity of spirit of the Momentum team.
“He acted in a way that appears to proximate entrapment.
“In addition he seems to have specifically targeted Muslim volunteers in what looks like an attempt to smear them and Momentum as anti-Semitic. Momentum has no relationship with MPAC.
“Faduma Hassan has had no contact with MPAC either as an individual or on behalf of Momentum.”
He said James McAsh wrote for Novara about the Labour’s trigger ballot process of his own accord, and often writes under a pseudonym.
And he said Novara Media is an independent media outlet which has negotiated access to Momentum to cover developments in the Labour Party. He said it existed before Momentum.
He added Momentum managed one successful media stunt to do with Zac Goldsmith during the London mayoral election and said Sadiq Khan’s campaign team had no knowledge of the plans.