The Labour party has suspended a trade union leader who strongly supports Jeremy Corbyn, leaving him “disgusted and in shock”.
Ronnie Draper, the general secretary of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU), which has nearly 20,000 members, told the Press Association he had been sent a letter announcing he was suspended pending a hearing.
In a tweet he added:
Just been suspended from the Labour Party, a member most of my life. Democracy in action @jeremycorbyn @NSSN_AntiCuts @resistunite #bfawu
— Ronnie Draper (@Ronniebfawu) August 25, 2016
Draper said the action was supposedly taken over something he wrote on social media. Labour refused to comment, saying the party did not discuss national executive committee (NEC) decisions on individual members.
Draper’s union is among those backing Corbyn in his leadership battle against Owen Smith. He has regularly tweeted in support of Corbyn, saying a vote for him was “a vote for progressive, compassionate, working-class policies”.
The suspension comes amid a bitter internal battle within the party connected to the leadership bid, especially over who will be allowed to vote in the forthcoming election.
The party’s compliance unit is working through applications to check whether the 180,000 new registered supporters who signed up to take part in the vote are eligible, or if some are members of, or public advocates for, other groups.
Adding to the recriminations was a high court battle over whether 130,000 full members who joined Labour in the past six months were eligible to vote.
After the NEC ruled they were not, a group of members won a high court challenge against the decision, only for this to be overturned on appeal.
Corbyn’s campaign team attacked the appeal decision, and the party’s HQ for fighting the appeal, castigating it as wrong “both legally and democratically”.
