Keir Starmer's allies purging Labour left, says John McDonnell

Supporters of Sir Keir Starmer are "drunk with power" and conducting a purge of the Labour left, erstwhile shadiness chancellor John McDonnell has said.

In a BBC Newsnight interview, the seasoned left-winger warned that a "right-wing faction" was weakening the party.

He was speaking aft figures connected the near complained that they are being blocked from positions successful the party.

He has raised his concerns with the Labour person successful writing, warning: "If you stumble, these are the radical that volition travel for you."

The erstwhile shadiness chancellor said: "What [Keir Starmer's] allowed to hap is simply a right-wing faction [has] go drunk with powerfulness and usage devices wrong the enactment astir connected a hunt and destruct of the left.

"They look to beryllium much funny successful destroying the beingness of the near successful the enactment than getting a Labour government."

His involution comes aft aspiring MPs said they are being excluded from an approved database of parliamentary candidates drawn up by the party's National Executive Committee, Labour's governing body.

Sitting MPs facing enactment battles successful caller seats created by the Boundary Review besides accidental they are losing retired to Starmer loyalists. Others connected the near person been successful.

And Neal Lawson, manager of run radical Compass and a stalwart of the brushed left, precocious said helium is facing an authoritative probe implicit immoderate aged tweets calling for cross-party co-operation.

The enactment says it is looking into his enactment for different governmental parties, which is simply a breach of Labour rules.

In a statement, a spokesperson told the BBC said it had "high standards" for prospective predetermination candidates, and this was "absolutely right".

"This is simply a changed Labour Party backmost successful the work of moving radical truthful we tin physique a amended Britain," they added.

In his Newsnight interview, Mr McDonnell said: "I've written to Keir a fewer times saying: Look, this factionalism is causing america existent problems for the future…There is simply a benignant of a right-wing faction that person got into reasonably elder positions and they look beryllium waging immoderate signifier of purge against the left.

"And what I said to Keir, is we've ever been a wide church. This doesn't assistance the party, and we're ever palmy erstwhile we're a wide church.

"Previous leaders and premier ministers of the Labour Party person ever had successful their furniture a wide religion attack - left, close and centre. They've tolerated antithetic views wrong the party.

"In fact, galore of them person welcomed it due to the fact that you get amended discussion, amended debates and you get a amended determination argumentation making arsenic well.

"And I said: there's a faction present that really are truthful intolerant of dissent that they're removing people, it volition weaken our party. And I besides said to him, if you stumble, these are the radical that volition travel for you."

Mr McDonnell, a adjacent state of the erstwhile Labour person Jeremy Corbyn, has besides raised concerns with Sir Keir implicit erstwhile shadiness location caput Diane Abbott's suspension arsenic a Labour MP.

The Labour whip was withdrawn from the seasoned left-winger successful April, pending an probe into a missive she wrote astir racism to the Observer.

In the letter, she said "many types of achromatic radical with points of difference" tin acquisition prejudice, but they were not taxable to racism "all their lives". She aboriginal withdrew her remarks and apologised "for immoderate anguish caused".

Mr McDonnell said her comments had been "wrong", but added that helium had fixed Sir Keir "several examples of MPs wherever they've made akin mistakes, immoderate of them worse," and had the enactment whip restored.

"Why are we discriminating against the archetypal achromatic pistillate successful Parliament? Is it due to the fact that she is connected the left? And there's excessively galore examples similar that person taken place," helium added.

The erstwhile shadiness chancellor said helium had advised the Labour person to inquire barrister Martin Forde KC, who was commissioned by Sir Keir successful 2020 to analyse allegations of bullying, racism and sexism, to re-examine "factionalism" wrong the party.

He added that helium should besides beryllium consulted connected "some of these issues astir the idiosyncratic cases and complaints that person been made".

"In that way, we mightiness beryllium capable to reconstruct assurance successful the full process wrong the enactment [around] selections and disciplinary process."

The erstwhile shadiness chancellor besides said that erstwhile PM Tony Blair, who is reviled by galore connected the left, had tolerated antithetic views erstwhile helium was premier minister.

Mr McDonnell said: "If you look astatine [it] nether Tony Blair, we didn't person wide expulsions similar this oregon thing similar that. We didn't person the withdrawal of the whip unless it was thing precise extreme. There was an ambiance of tolerance, but really respect arsenic well."

Josh Simons, manager of the Labour Together deliberation vessel that is supportive of Sir Keir's leadership, denied determination was a purge of the Labour left.

He told Newsnight that Sir Keir was gathering a enactment "capable and equipped to govern this state and alteration it," including getting radical "with talent, with energy, with vigour and committedness into Parliament to bash that".

He besides added that the Labour person was implementing recommendations from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, which published a reappraisal successful 2020 into however the enactment handled complaints of antisemitism wrong the party.

"And if determination are radical who person tweeted things, shared things connected Facebook, engaged with posts that autumn foul of those EHRC recommendations, past those radical are and should beryllium blocked from being portion of the Labour party's enactment successful the future," helium added.

You tin ticker BBC Newsnight's interrogation successful afloat connected Tuesday 4 July from 22.30 BST connected BBC Two.