Labour has suspended new member Catherine Starr (pictured) from the party and denied a vote in the leadership election after she posted about her love of rock band Foo Fighters on Facebook

Labour has suspended a new member from the party and denied a vote in the leadership election after she posted about her love of rock band Foo Fighters on Facebook.

Catherine Starr, a supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, was shocked to receive a letter from the party's General Secretary Iain McNicol telling her that following a vetting procedure she was being refused full membership as she had 'shared inappropriate content on Facebook'.

It said this related to a post on March 5 when she had shared a clip of Dave Grohl's band and wrote 'I f****** love the Foo Fighters'.

That day Mrs Starr, 33, had also shared a friend's inoffensive poster about animal free cosmetics and a cartoon about veganism.

Today Mrs Starr, who previously voted Liberal Democrat, said she felt she was a victim of the National Executive Committee's 'over-zealous vetting procedure designed to stop supporters of Jeremy Corbyn voting for him'.

Her suspension will help Mr Corbyn's right-hand man John McDonnell in his attempt to uncover what he described as a 'rigged purge' of left-wing supporters by Labour officials.

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The Shadow Chancellor launched a blistering attack on Mr McNicol last night, accusing him of 'a clear pattern of double standards' after suspending the hard-left leader of the Bakers' union Ronnie Draper but took no action against Blairite donor Lord Sainsbury despite his £2million donation to the Lib Dems.

Mr McDonnell claimed it was part of a concerted effort by Labour HQ to bar Corbyn supporters from voting in the leadership election.

Catherine Starr, a supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, was shocked to receive a letter from the party's General Secretary Iain McNicol telling her that following a vetting procedure she was being refused full membership as she had 'shared inappropriate content on Facebook'. It said this related to a post on March 5 when she had shared a clip of Dave Grohl's band and wrote 'I f****** love the Foo Fighters'

Explaining why her membership application had been rejected, Mrs Starr was told: 'You shared inappropriate content on Facebook on 5 March'

Catherine Starr was told she was suspended for sharing 'inappropriate content on Facebook on 5 March' but she said the only content she posted on that day was a clip of Dave Grohl's band and wrote 'I f****** love the Foo Fighters'. That day Mrs Starr, 33, had also shared a friend's inoffensive poster about animal free cosmetics (pictured left) and a cartoon about veganism (pictured right)

Catherine Starr said she felt she was a victim of the National Executive Committee's 'over-zealous vetting procedure designed to bar supporters of Jeremy Corbyn (pictured with leadership challenger Owen Smith last night)

Explaining why her membership application had been rejected, Mrs Starr was told: 'You shared inappropriate content on Facebook on 5 March.'

Mr McNicol explained: 'At any time before the individual is accepted as a full member of the Party, the General Secretary may rule that the individual application for membership be rejected for any reason which s/he sees fit.'

She has appealed against the rejection and is awaiting a response from the NEC.

Mrs Starr, who lives in the Wiltshire village of Shipton Bellinger, said: 'I was shocked and taken aback by the letter from the NEC.

'I can be quite forthright about the things I believe but I am never abusive. I simply do not believe in being threatening or intimidatory.

'I was totally confused so I looked back to see what posts I had shared on March 5.

'I shared a Foo Fighters video, a picture of a poster listing cruelty free cosmetics brands and I shared a joke from a a vegan comic book.

'I had also made a comment on a friends' post which was inoffensive.

'I have heard about the NEC kicking people out for posting things they don't like.

'I find it bizarre they have enough time on their hands to try to vet things like this at all, but I don't go in for intimidating people or shouting them down anyway.

'I'm not a confrontational or aggressive person.

'The NEC seem to have adopted an over-zealous vetting policy which may be aimed at stopping news members voting for Jeremy Corbyn.'

In a blistering public attack on General Secretary Iain McNicol (left), Mr McDonnell (right) claimed 'thousands' of members and registered supporters who backed Mr Corbyn had been denied a vote in the leadership election 'without being given an explanation or opportunity to challenge the decision'

John McDonnell accused Labour officials of mounting a 'rigged purge' of Jeremy Corbyn supporters but failing to take action against a Blairite peer who gave the Lib Dems £2.1million

But Mr McNicol took the unusual step of correcting Mr McDonnell on Twitter, writing: 'John, just to clarify you say 'party officials'. Decisions are made by elected NEC members, and not party staff'

Mrs Starr, who works as a bids manager for an engineering firm, had joined the party in order to vote for Corbyn.

She said: 'I used to support the Lib Dems, although I was never a member.

'I felt royally stitched up by the Lib Dems coalition with the Tories.

'Jeremy Corbyn was the one who made me think Labour were a viable option, because he stands up for what he thinks.

'I joined up in July to vote for him and got an email welcoming me to the party. I paid an additional £25 so I could vote in the leadership election and that was taken from my account on July 22.

'I got an email telling me to 'look out for your ballot' but it didn't arrive, and then to my surprise I got this letter.'

A Labour spokesperson said: 'We don't comment on NEC decisions regarding individuals.'

The party said it has 'a robust vetting process which is being carried out by panels of elected NEC members'.

Labour was set back by further infighting during a bitter leadership debate between Mr Corbyn and challenger Owen Smith last night.

Mr Smith accused the Labour leader of lying about voting for Britain to stay in the EU and claimed he was secretly 'happy' about the Brexit outcome.

But he was booed and heckled by audience members in the bad-tempered debate in Glasgow last night and Mr Corbyn hit back by telling his challenger: 'I thought we had grown up, we weren't any longer going to use those kind of questions.'