LABOUR deputy leader Tom Watson has attacked his own party’s decision to expel Alastair Campbell for voting LibDem over Brexit as “spiteful”.
Mr Watson said Labour should be “listening rather than punishing” those who, like Tony Blair’s former spin-doctor, backed another party in the European elections.
He recommended an “amnesty” for members who did likewise because they felt let down by Labour’s lack of “clarity”.
Mr Campbell admitted voting LibDem on a BBC TV show on Sunday, three days after UK polls closed.
Labour rules forbid members from actively supporting other parties or candidates, but Mr Campbell said he had merely voted tactically.
He said on Tuesday he would appeal his expulsion, insisting: “I will always be Labour”.
Labour initially said Mr Campbell was thrown out voting LibDem, then changed tack and cited “using media appearances to advertise and encourage support for another party”.
Mr Watson said Labour needed “pluralism and tolerance to survive”, adding: “It is spiteful to resort to expulsions when [the party] should be listening to members.”
Labour peer Lord Falconer, who served in Mr Blair’s government, said Jeremy Corbyn’s team had taken a “politically explosive” decision to expel Mr Campbell for something “maybe tens of thousands” of party members did too.
He said it seemed “inconceivable that a decision like that would have been taken simply by an official operating a process”, adding: “It’s bound to have been taken higher up the chain.”
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