Tom Watson: Expelling members who backed other parties is 'spiteful'
Tom Watson said it is "spiteful" to expel people from Labour and called for an "amnesty" for members who did not support the party at the European elections.
Labour's deputy leader has waded into the row over the expulsion of Alastair Campbell, who was kicked out of the party after admitting he voted for the Lib Dems in last week's poll.
Mr Campbell, the former spin doctor for Tony Blair, was one of a number of high profile Labour figures to turn against the party in the Euro elections over its stance on a second Brexit referendum.
West Bromwich East MP Mr Watson, who has called for a fresh public vote on any Brexit deal, said he wants Labour members disillusioned by the party's lack of "clarity" on Brexit to escape sanction.
"It is very clear that many thousands of Labour Party members voted for other parties last week," he said.
"They were disappointed with the position on Brexit that a small number of people on the NEC inserted into our manifesto. They were sending the NEC a message that our position lacked clarity and they were right.
"It is spiteful to resort to expulsions when the NEC should be listening to members.
"The politics of intolerance holds no future for the Labour Party. A broad church party requires pluralism and tolerance to survive.
"There should be an amnesty for members who voted a different way last week.
"We should be listening to members rather than punishing them."
It came as former Home Secretary Charles Clarke confirmed he had voted for the Lib Dems, along with former MP Fiona MacTaggart, while one time Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said he voted Green.
Mr Clarke called Mr Campbell's expulsion "a disgrace that only compounds Labour's current political difficulties".
Mr Campbell said he was “sad and disappointed” at his expulsion, and has vowed to appeal against the decision.
A vocal "People's Vote" campaigner for another referendum, he claimed "senior" members of Jeremy Corbyn's team had sent "many, many messages of support" for him to vote for a different party.
He added that despite the decision: "I will always be Labour."
Lord Falconer, who served in Mr Blair's government alongside Mr Campbell, accused Mr Corbyn's leadership team of taking the "politically explosive" decision to expel his former colleague.
He said he did not believe Mr Campbell had broken membership rules, but if they had been, "maybe tens of thousands" of members had followed suit.
He said it seemed "absolutely inconceivable that a decision like that would have been taken simply by an official operating a process", adding: "It's bound to have been taken higher up the chain."
Others have defended the party over the rules. Clare Short, a former Labour MP who quit Mr Blair's cabinet, said the decision was "nothing special". She added: "If you're in the Brownies and you say I don't think people should join the Brownies, you'll probably be thrown out of the Brownies."
Labour's share of the vote plummeted to 14 per cent in the European elections, a collapse which many attributed to the party's position on Brexit.
It prompted Mr Watson to launch a survey calling on his party to give members a say on Labour's direction on Brexit.
He warns that a "hardline Brexiteer" is likely to win the Tory leadership contest, opening up "serious concerns" of a 'no deal' Brexit on October 31.
"Labour is rightly calling for a general election. But we cannot go into an election with our current Brexit position. We need a change of direction urgently," Mr Watson added.
"The next policy-making moment for Labour is annual conference at the end of September. But many members are telling me that’s too late. The UK will be a month away from crashing out of the EU with no deal and there will be no time left to hold a public vote.
"Those members are right. We need a process to give members a say sooner. A special conference or all-member ballot have been raised. Both are good options. I want to know what you think."
