Unite trade union officer suspended over “vile” posts about Jews and Zionists

A communications officer employed by the Unite trade union has been suspended and is facing allegations of antisemitism over a stream of social media posts including the claim “the Jews suffered great tragedy and now inflict it on others.”

Nick West has been employed for over seven years as Unite’s “lead on the social media policy for the London region” and according to his own LinkedIn page he also helps the union “originate marketing and promotional campaigns on key issues.”

But in posts uncovered by an angry trade union colleague, West is also revealed to have made regular comparisons between the Nazis and the alleged actions of “Jews” and “Zionists” against the Palestinians.

After revealing his social media posts, a Unite spokesman told Jewish News: “Unite takes this matter extremely seriously. The employee in question has been SUSPENDED and an investigation is under way.”

In further shocking posts West mounted a succession of online attacks on the Jewish politician Dame Margaret Hodge – including a Facebook post in which he accused the Labour MP of being a “woman who weaponises her faith and the holocaust to forward her own petty and Zionist aims.”

He also accused Hodge and Jewish Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis of having “no idea of what antisemitism actually is” adding they appeared on the BBC2 show to “tell a few lies on behalf of Israel.”

In a post written last month West branded Jewish women Ruth Smeeth and Rachel Riley as “bad bad people” who he claims “make your skin crawl.”

West’s posts on antisemitism were uncovered by Steve Cooke, a Unite member himself, who has been a campaigner exposing anti-Jewish racism in the union and Labour.

Cooke said: “Nick West’s posts are vile. This cannot be allowed to go on. How can a Unite full-timer get away with this?”

Earlier posts written by West include the claim made in December 2016 that “Criticism of the state of Israel isn’t anti-semitism. The Jews suffered great tragedy and now inflict it on others.”

In November 2020, discussing claims of antisemitism in Labour he wrote:”This is all a smear by Zionists.”

One year earlier, after Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis launched an unprecedented warning about the prospect of a Labour government under Jeremy Corbyn, West posted a fake image of a mock Get Corbyn film poster featuring an image of the rabbi brandishing a shot gun.

Unite were regularly at the centre of allegations of antisemitism under previous general secretary Len McCluskey, who himself apologised on several occasions for comments made on the issue.

McCluskey has now been replaced as general secretary by Sharon Graham.

A Unite spokesperson confirmed the union’s human resources department were investigating West’s posts, and therefore the union could not comment at this stage.

West was contacted by Jewish News for comment.