By Liam O'Hare

A LABOUR activist who backed Scottish independence claims he has been expelled from the party as part of a “targeted attack” on Jeremy Corbyn supporters Alasdair Clark, who lives in Edinburgh, received a letter from Labour general secretary Iain McNicol on Monday informing him that his membership had been revoked because of “advocated support for the SNP”.

In May last year, Mr Clark wrote an article for a national newspaper arguing that a vote for Yes in the independence referendum did not equate to support for the SNP.

He then urged Yes voters to back the Labour Party in the UK General Election.

The party said that his actions violated Chapter 2.14B of the rulebook which governs support for political organisations other than Labour.

However, Mr Clark has insisted that his loyalty to the party is “unquestionable”.

He said: “I have no option but to believe this is a targeted attack on the right of Jeremy Corbyn supporters.

“My dedication to the party is unquestionable, but I have been targeted by someone in the party who has sought to see me expelled.”

Until June of this year Mr Clark had worked in a full-time role as a paid organiser for the Scottish Labour Party, covering the Scottish Parliament election, as well as the EU referendum.

The 21-year-old said he has always voted Labour and never expressed support for another party.

“I worked with party candidates and members to organise and mobilise our campaign resources,” he said.

“I was tasked with contacting voters and convincing them to vote Labour.

“After this work, any suggestion that I would urge anyone to vote for any other party is ludicrous and indeed many elected members and candidates from across Scotland have now contacted me to enquire how they can best support me. This includes people voting for Jeremy Corbyn and people who will not be voting for him.”

Mr Corbyn has recently voiced fears that some of his supporters may have been “unfairly” excluded from voting in his leadership battle with Owen Smith.

More than 640,000 members and supporters were initially eligible to vote in the contest.

However, it is believed around 3,000 have since been barred from taking part.

The Labour leader has called for an investigation into the exclusion of certain members such as the Bakers’ union leader Ronnie Draper who was recently prevented from voting in the election.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has gone further, saying that party members will “not accept what appears to be a rigged purge of Jeremy Corbyn supporters”.

Rhea Wolfson, who was recently elected to Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee, said she was “seriously concerned” the party was excluding people who had made the “conscious decision” to join.

“My understanding of Alasdair is that he has worked for the party and demonstrated a high level of commitment,” she said.

“He’s always been a member of the Labour Party and never voted for another party. For my mind there is absolutely no justification for this expulsion “If people like Alasdair are being suspended it makes me so concerned about how many others are falling under the radar and not getting any attention.” When contacted over Smith’s expulsion, a spokesperson for the Scottish Labour Party said: “We don’t comment on individual member statuses.”

The Labour leadership election is set to come to a close on September 21 with the leader being announced at the party conference in Liverpool.

Incumbent Mr Corbyn remains the clear favourite to emerge victorious from the contest, with a recent poll giving him a 24 point lead over Mr Smith.