Corbyn’s policy chief suspended from party

Jeremy Corbyn’s head of policy, Andrew Fisher, has been suspended from the Labour Party in Britain following complaints that he campaigned for a rival party in the general election.

The Labour leader said he continues to have “full confidence” in Fisher, who is understood to remain a member of Corbyn’s office.

Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) is to draw up a report, which could result in disciplinary action against Fisher.

A number of Labour MPs and activists are understood to have made complaints over allegations Fisher urged supporters to vote for a Class War candidate against Labour’s Emily Benn in the Croydon South seat in the May election.

A Labour spokesman said: “Andrew Fisher has been suspended from the Labour Party. The NEC will now be asked to authorise a full report to be drawn up with recommendations for disciplinary action if appropriate.”

Corbyn said: “I have full confidence in Andrew Fisher and his work. I respect the integrity of the general secretary’s office and trust that this matter will be settled as quickly as possible.”

Benn, the granddaughter of Labour’s former Cabinet minister Tony Benn, made a formal complaint about Fisher after he sent a tweet in August 2014, which read “FFS if you live in Croydon South, vote with dignity, vote @campaignbeard” — a reference to the Twitter account of Class War parliamentary candidate Jon Bigger.

Labour’s rule book states that any member who “supports any candidate who stands against an official Labour candidate... shall automatically be ineligible to be or remain a party member”.

Fisher last week wrote to Labour’s general secretary Iain McNicol to “completely and unreservedly” apologise for the tweet, which he said had been “misinterpreted”.

He wrote: “I obviously do not and did not support Class War in any way, let alone in an election. I was and am committed to the election of a Labour government and a successful and united Labour Party.”

David Cameron taunted Corbyn over Fisher’s left-wing reputation at Prime Minister’s Questionsthis week, branding the former union official a “Trotskyist”. He told MPs: “His media adviser is a Stalinist, his new policy adviser is a Trotskyist and his economic adviser is a communist. If he is trying to move the Labour party to the left, I would give him ’full Marx’.”