George Galloway, who was expelled after 16 years as a Labour MP in 2003, with Jeremy Corbyn

An influential ally of Jeremy Corbyn has called for George Galloway to be readmitted to the Labour Party.

Andrew Murray, a former communist who played a key role in Labour’s general election campaign, said it was “long past time” for the “vicious, illegal and disgraceful” expulsion of the controversial politician to be reversed.

Mr Galloway, 63, was expelled after 16 years as a Labour MP in 2003 after he called for British troops to “refuse to obey illegal orders” in the Iraq war but he remained closely involved with the Stop the War Coalition, of which Mr Corbyn was a founding member and chairman. Although not a Labour member, Mr Galloway has enthusiastically championed Mr Corbyn’s leadership. This year he compared the Labour leader to