Seven members have been suspended by the Labour Party in connection with the leaked report accusing a group of ‘moderate’ former headquarters staff of undermining the party’s electoral efforts and racism complaints, as well as abusing colleagues and MPs.
The identities of those suspended have not been disclosed, although the Times is reporting that one of those affected is the party’s former campaigns director Patrick Heneghan, who quit his role in September 2017, a few months after the ‘Corbyn surge’ that WhatsApp messages included in the report revealed had so horrified HQ staff who had been banking on electoral disaster to remove Jeremy Corbyn.
It is not yet clear whether all those suspended are people accused by the report or include those the party suspects of leaking it – Keir Starmer’s investigation announcement focused more on the creation and leaking of the report than on the events it described and the party has spent a six-figure sum on forensic computer specialists to try to identify the source of the leak.
Ian McNicol, the party’s former general secretary who featured prominently in the report, is not one of the seven. He resigned as the Labour whip in the Lords because of the investigation but remains a member.
Patrick Heneghan has been contacted for comment.
The SKWAWKBOX needs your support. This blog is provided free of charge but depends on the generosity of its readers to be viable. If you can afford to, please click here to arrange a one-off or modest monthly donation via PayPal or here for a monthly donation via GoCardless. Thanks for your solidarity so this blog can keep bringing you information the Establishment would prefer you not to know about.
If you wish to reblog this post for non-commercial use, you are welcome to do so – see here for more.