EXCL Former Labour minister threatens party with legal action over axeing of student group
2 min read
A former Labour minister has threatened the party with legal action over the scrapping of a moderate group representing student members of the party.
Lord Falconer said there were "factual inaccuracies" in the accusations made against Labour Students by Momentum boss Jon Lansman.
Labour's ruling national executive committee last week voted in favour of a motion tabled by Mr Lansman stating the group should be disbanded.
He had claimed that the NEC had never approved the group's affiliation to the Labour party.
In addition, the Momentum chief said Labour Students had never paid its affiliation fees - a claim denied by the group's chair, Rania Ramli.
In his letter, Lord Falconer - who served as a Cabinet minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown - said he will launch legal action if the claims are not corrected by the party.
It has also emerged that members of Labour Students had their passes to attend the party's conference in Brighton revoked without warning, meaning they were not allowed entry.
The row is further evidence of the civil war gripping the party as it gears up for an imminent general election.
On Saturday, Mr Lansman and the Unite trade union failed in an attempt to scrap the post of Labour deputy leader in an attempt to get rid of Tom Watson.
And the Sunday Times revealed that Andrew Fisher, a key aide to Jeremy Corbyn, is resigning following tensions with other senior figures in the leader's office.
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