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<\/p>\nA pro-Palestinian protester seen waving a swastika on Saturday is a former Labour activist who once accused the party leadership of acting like the Third Reich, it can be revealed.<\/p>\n
Kate Varnfield, 66, was pictured attending the rally in London this weekend with a placard showing the Star of David enmeshed with the Nazi swastika above the words: ‘No British politician should be a ‘friend of Israel’.’<\/p>\n
It was one of several displays of antisemitism at the rally which is now being investigated by the Metropolitan Police as a possible hate crime.<\/p>\n
Ms Varnfield’s 73-year-old husband, Terry, today insisted to the Mail that the signs had been ‘taken out of context’ and were an innocent reference to a 1970s UFO religion.<\/p>\n
Labour sources in the South East have said that Ms Varnfield joined the Eastbourne Constituency Labour Party (CLP) around the time that Jeremy Corbyn became party leader.<\/p>\n
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Kate Varnfield, 66, was pictured attending the rally in London this weekend with a placard showing the Star of David enmeshed with the Nazi swastika above the words: ‘No British politician should be a ‘friend of Israel”’\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was involved in the branch for about 18 months before leaving the area.<\/p>\n
Ms Varnfield quit the party in November 2021 and posted a picture of a letter on social media which suggested she was on the brink of being expelled for supporting organisations such as Labour Against The Witchhunt.<\/p>\n
Labour Against the Witchhunt was formed in late 2017 by conspiracy theorists convinced that the allegations of antisemitism which engulfed the Labour Party under Mr Corbyn’s leadership were a politically motivated plot to oust him.<\/p>\n
In her bizarre letter, seen by the Mail, Ms Varnfield used the name of current leader Keir Starmer to make a pun about the Third Reich.<\/p>\n
She said: ‘I was simply exercising my right of free speech\u2026that this can be described as a prohibited act by the Labour Party under the Starmbannfuhrer is an atrocity and an affront to the history of the Labour Party.’<\/p>\n
The Sturmbannfuhrer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank used by the SS and other affiliated organisations.<\/p>\n
Ms Varnfield is a trained therapist and also a regular user of the website Quora, where she has answered numerous questions posted by other users about Palestine.<\/p>\n
It is understood that Ms Varnfield’s name has been passed to the Metropolitan Police after the wrong woman was widely named on social media as the person pictured with the swastika sign.<\/p>\n
The account which first shared the picture of the sign on social media, Harry’s Place, said at the time: ‘The swastika wrapped in a Star of David should be obviously antisemitic to anyone with any modicum of understanding.<\/p>\n
‘The image is used a great deal by the hard left.’<\/p>\n
The ugly scenes at the march – which was attended by an estimated 300,000 people – were also condemned by Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman, who was sacked as Home Secretary on Monday morning.<\/p>\n
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Labour sources in the South East have said that Ms Varnfield joined the Eastbourne Constituency Labour Party (CLP) around the time that Jeremy Corbyn became party leader<\/p>\n
After being approached by the Mail, Terry Varnfield, who was pictured alongside his wife at the march, defended the sign and claimed it was not antisemitic.<\/p>\n
He said: ‘The message on the placard read: No British Politician Should Be A ‘Friend of Israel’ which is a statement that is not anti-semitic or offensive.<\/p>\n
‘The symbol used is the Raelism religion symbol, a combination of both the Star of David and the Swastika but meaning peace and love.’<\/p>\n
Raelism is described as a UFO religion that was founded in the 1970s in France, teaching that an extraterrestrial species created humanity.<\/p>\n
Its most fervent supporters have sought to build an embassy incorporating a landing pad for the eventual arrival of the alien spaceship.<\/p>\n
Mr Varnfield continued: ‘This has been taken out of context and misrepresented.’<\/p>\n
He did not respond when asked whether the police had made contact with him or his wife.<\/p>\n