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Labour 'completely taken over by Leftist clique' says Sir Tony Robinson

Sir Tony Robinson is unhappy with the direction of Labour - PA
Sir Tony Robinson is unhappy with the direction of Labour - PA

Labour has been “completely taken over by a Leftist clique”, one of the party’s most famous supporters has said, after the woman in charge of handling complaints was ousted and replaced by a controversial Jeremy Corbyn loyalist.

Ann Black, the long-standing chairman of the Disputes Sub-Committee of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC), was replaced by Christine Shawcroft, a director of the Corbyn-backing group Momentum, in a move that one party member said showed “contempt” for party democracy.

It came just a day after three Momentum supporters, including the group’s founder Jon Lansman, won places on the NEC to strengthen Mr Corbyn’s grip on the party.

Ms Shawcroft, who was suspended from the Labour party in 2015 for supporting the the Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman, who was found guilty of electoral fraud and bribery, now controls the body that decides whether the party should investigate racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic and other bullying and abuse by party members.

The actor Sir Tony Robinson, best known for playing Baldrick in Blackadder, accused supporters of Mr Corbyn of “undermining” Ms Black, 66, who was awarded an OBE for political service in 2013.

jon lansman
Jon Lansman, the Momentum founder, has been elected onto the NEC

Before the result was announced, he tweeted: "Ann Black's brilliant – a radical voice for ordinary members on the NEC with an awesome work rate. The idea of the Corbynite Left trying to undermine her is outrageous. If true it would confirm what I've always feared: our party completely taken over by and for a Leftist clique".

Before yesterday’s vote, Corbyn supporters had said on Twitter that it was “imperative Ann Black is targeted by name”.

She had angered many Corbyn supporters in 2016 by excluding 130,000 new Labour members from the leadership election and forcing them to pay another £25 to take part.

Jasmin Beckett, the youth representative on the NEC, said she was “disgusted” by the treatment of Ms Black, adding: “The NEC disputes panel is a vital body in tackling sexual harassment and anti-Semitism in Labour, not a factional playground.”

Immediately after her election Ms Shawcroft chaired a disputes panel which decided not to refer a number of complaints of anti-Semitism for further investigation by the National Constitutional Committee (NCC).

According to the Huffington Post website, only one complaint was referred up to the NCC. Labour sources said other complaints were dealt with by way of a formal warning or by sending members for training by the Jewish Labour Movement.

Richard Angell, director of the Blairite pressure group Progress, said: "The irony of someone who was kicked out of Labour because she supported Lutfur Rahman, the disgraced former mayor of Tower Hamlets, becoming the chair of the disputes committee shows the contempt the Momentum leadership have for due process and party democracy.”

Ms Shawcroft’s elevation is seen as further evidence of Mr Corbyn’s tightening hold on the Labour machine.

The election of Mr Lansman and two other Momentum-backed candidates to the NEC had already caused concern among some Labour MPs that the party would press on with plans to deselect any MPs who are not fully aligned with Mr Corbyn’s far-left views.

Moderate Labour MPs have threatened to quit the party and sit as independents in the Commons if they are deselected in a purge by the far left.