Alastair Campbell will 'always' be Labour despite expulsion over EU election vote
The ex-Downing Street director of communications says he "voted in the best interests of what the Labour Party should be doing".
Wednesday 29 May 2019 19:58, UK
Tony Blair's former spin chief Alastair Campbell has declared he will "always" be a Labour supporter despite being expelled from the party.
Party officials have acted against Mr Campbell after he admitted to voting Liberal Democrat in last week's European Parliament elections.
He said he found the move "particularly sad and disappointing" as it "comes on a day when actually, finally, the Labour Party seems to be trying to move to what I would define as a sensible, credible, coherent position on Brexit".
Senior Labour figures have used the EU election results, in which the party came third behind the Brexit Party and Liberal Democrats, to suggest Labour should more clearly support a second EU referendum.
Mr Campbell, a prominent Remainer and advocate of the People's Vote campaign for a second referendum, said: "I don't believe I voted against the Labour Party, I believe I voted in the best interests of what the Labour Party should be doing."
The ex-Downing Street director of communications, who served under Mr Blair, said he did not want to be treated differently from any other Labour member - but claimed senior people in Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's office had previously recommended voting against Labour.
He also noted how Mr Corbyn congratulated George Galloway on defeating a Labour candidate at a parliamentary by-election in 2012.
Mr Campbell declared he would "definitely" appeal against his expulsion, adding: "One thing I know is I'm not going to leave the party because some random email comes in telling me I've been expelled."
"I know what I am and I know I've been Labour all my life and always will be," he added.
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He also suggested other Labour staff, MPs, peers and councillors had also told him they were not voting for the party in the EU elections, but would not reveal who.
He was expelled quicker than a man who threatened to kill me, quicker than a man in my CLP who denied the Holocaust
Former Labour minister Charles Clarke, who served as home secretary when Mr Blair was prime minister, called on the party to reverse Mr Campbell's expulsion as he revealed he also voted for the Lib Dems last week.
Mr Clarke said: "I was not aware that Alastair had voted Liberal Democrat in the European election until I heard him say so on television on Sunday evening.
"His expulsion from Labour Party membership is a disgrace and only compounds Labour's current political difficulties.
"I also voted Liberal Democrat. This was a one-off decision because of the hopeless incoherence of Labour's position, particularly that of Jeremy Corbyn, on Brexit."
Former Labour defence secretary Bob Ainsworth, who served in government under Mr Blair and Gordon Brown, confirmed to Sky News he voted for the Green Party in the European Parliament ballot.
A Labour spokesperson said supporting a party other than Labour was "incompatible" with its membership.
They added: "The Lib Dems cannot and will not end austerity - they cannot bring our country together or be trusted to deliver on their promises."
Momentum, the pro-Jeremy Corbyn campaign group, said Mr Campbell's expulsion was "the least he deserves" for his "'sexed up' dossier" that "started the Iraq war and left a million dead".
Labour was beaten into third place in the European Parliament elections by the Brexit Party and Lib Dems.
Mr Campbell served under former prime minister Tony Blair as his director of communications during the early Downing Street years.
Earlier, Mr Blair sent a message to him, telling Sky News: "I understand why you did what you did.
"You wouldn't be the only person I know who had voted Labour all their lives that didn't vote Labour in this election."
Labour MP Darren Jones said the leadership "can move remarkably quickly to expel long-standing members... but it can't seem to bring itself to expel antisemites - this can't carry on".
Another, Wes Streeting, wrote on Twitter: "Very sorry to see this. Though in awe at how quickly the party can expedite expulsions when the political will exists."
Jess Phillips also said: "He was expelled quicker than a man who threatened to kill me, quicker than a man in my CLP who denied the Holocaust, both are only still suspended."
It comes hours after the Equality and Human Rights Commission announced it was launching an investigation into whether Labour has "unlawfully discriminated against, harassed or victimised people because they are Jewish".
Mr Campbell's praise for Labour pivoting on Brexit came after shadow chancellor John McDonnell said it was "highly unlikely" the party could force a general election and that it was time to start calling for another referendum "now".