Derek Hatton suspended by Labour just two days after his readmission was confirmed
2 min read
Labour has suspended Derek Hatton’s membership of the party just days after it was confirmed that he had been readmitted.
The former deputy leader of Liverpool City Council was expelled 34 years ago for being a member of the Militant faction, however it was discovered on Monday that he had been allowed back into the fold.
On the same day, seven Labour MPs quit in protest at the party's position on Brexit and what they said was Jeremy Corbyn's failure to tackle anti-Semitism by some of its members.
Mr Hatton was then strongly criticised after a tweet he posted in 2012 emerged in which he said that Jewish people with any “humanity” should criticise Israel.
A Labour source told PoliticsHome: "Derek Hatton was given provisional membership, pending NEC approval. The Party was not aware of this material. Once this was brought to our attention he was suspended pending the NEC’s decision.”
The news of Labour’s U-turn comes just an hour after frontbencher Barry Gardiner confirmed that he had written to Labour’s general secretary to protest the former left-wing firebrand's readmission.
When asked if he agreed Mr Hatton should play “no part” in the party, Mr Gardiner replied: "This morning I saw the reports about not just the readmission of Derek Hatton but the tweets he has mentioned.
“I wrote to the general secretary of our party, I lodged a formal complaint.
“I understand that action has since been taken in respect of the complaint and I'm sure that I will be looking out to see precisely what appropriate action is taken in due course.”
Mr Hatton told the Mirror earlier this week that in the years that he was expelled he "never once stood against, supported, voted against any Labour candidate".
He added: "It’s very topical it should be at the time when seven members resigned today because obviously there were times when it was very tempting to go a different way - during the Iraq War, loss of Clause IV, many things - but I believed then as I believe now the Labour Party is the political arm of the trade union movement.
"Whatever is happening, that’s the place to stay."
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