Tom Watson demands evidence from Corbyn aide who claimed 'deep state' undermining Labour leader

Tom Watson has accused one of Jeremy Corbyn's senior advisers of spreading "fake news" with claims that the "deep state" is trying undermine the Labour leadership.

Andrew Murray, a longstanding ally of Mr Corbyn and a part-time aide to the Labour leader, suggested the security services could be behind delays to approval of his parliamentary pass, which has been held up for nearly a year.

He also detected the hand of "possibly someone being paid by the taxpayer" behind media reports that he had been banned from Ukraine over his supposed links to Vladimir Putin's "global propaganda network".

In a sign of tensions with the leader's office, Mr Watson said the comments were "a bit John le Carre" and demanded Mr Murray provide evidence for his allegations.

The deputy Labour leader told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think it is highly unlikely but I don’t know.

"I read that piece. I thought it was a bit John le Carre but I don’t know where his evidence is for that.”

Asked if Mr Murray should provide proof, Mr Watson said: “I think it would be helpful because I’m being asked about it on the Today programme and I don’t know what the facts of the issue are.

“If he thinks that the intelligence services are trying to undermine the official opposition then he should provide evidence because otherwise it’s just fake news.”

Parliamentary authorities launched an investigation after it emerged that Mr Murray and Iram Awan, another senior aide, had been working in the leader's office without the correct security clearance for nearly a year. Ms Awan has now been granted a pass.

Mr Murray, who is also an aide to Unite leader Len McCluskey, quit the Communist Party of Britain in 2016 to join Labour and played a supporting role in last year's election campaign.

In the wake of weekend reports he had been barred from visiting Ukraine, Mr Murray suggested journalists could have been helped by government officials to discover his ban.

Writing in the New Statesman, Mr Murray said: “Someone else is doing the hard work – possibly someone being paid by the taxpayer.

“I doubt if their job description is preventing the election of a Corbyn government, but who knows?

“We are often told that the days of secret state political chicanery are long past and we must hope so.

“But sometimes you have to wonder – this curiously timed episode seems less rooted in a Kiev security scare than in a political stunt closer to home.”

He vehemently denied any links with Russia and insisted he had never planned to visit Ukraine, describing it as a country where “the parliamentary speaker is a Hitler admirer and pogromists and Nazi collaborators are national heroes”.