Sign up to FREE email alerts from Liverpool Echo - Weekly Politics Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Derek Hatton - one of the most well known and divisive figures in Liverpool politics - is back in the Labour Party, almost 33 years after he was expelled.

The former deputy leader of Liverpool City Council was kicked out of Labour by then leader Neil Kinnock and the party's ruling committee for belonging to the left-wing Militant faction.

But the ECHO can today exclusively reveal that he has once again been allowed to join Labour as a member and says he is excited to be back.

Mr Hatton, now 70, said it was the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn that made him re-apply for membership - but insisted that he has no plans to run for public office.

The news will be met with mixed reactions across Liverpool and the country as Mr Hatton's time as the most influential member of the council in the 1980s was one riddled with controversy.

In an attempt to take on Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Government, who wanted Liverpool to fall into a state of 'managed decline', Hatton and his colleagues hired taxis to deliver more than 30,000 redundancy notices to workers in the city after refusing to implement local government spending cuts.

While these actions were described as 'grotesque' by Labour leader Kinnock, Mr Hatton has always insisted it was a political tactic to buy time from the government.

In March 1986, the High Court upheld the district auditor’s decision to surcharge and disqualify 47 Labour councillors - including Mr Hatton - from holding public office for failing to set a rate in time and losing the city £106,000 in interest.

Speaking today, Mr Hatton has written a column that talks about the issues of the 80s and how he would do things differently in the current political climate.

And in an interview with the ECHO, he sought to address some of what he said are incorrect statements made about his time on the council.

He said: "We were on the back of the dock industry completely closing, every factory around closing, massive decline.

"People used to say it was like as though Derek Hatton had woken up one morning and said 'I've got an idea.

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

"We were borne out of the crisis, we were borne out of these problems, the struggle - and we only did what we did because we had that massive support. We never lost an election in Liverpool.

"Every time we stood we got more votes, people were saying 'not only are you saying the right things, you are doing them.

"Had it not been for the fact that Kinnock took us on as he did, it would have been a very, very different world."

(Image: Liverpoool Echo)

He added: "We used to go to speak at rallies across the country, and the leaders of other councils would ask if it was alright to go on the platforms with us.

"Those very same leaders who before hand were saying they were with us, as soon as Kinnock said what he said, not only did they allow us to go over the cliff, they pushed us as well.

"That was the difference in those days, the leadership of the Labour party is very different now."

And it is that different leadership - in particular Jeremy Corbyn - that has led him to rejoin the party after 33 years.

He did attempt to do the same several years ago but his application was rejected by then Labour General Secretary Iain McNicol - who has since been replaced by Jennie Formby.

Mr Hatton - who said he applied for membership in the standard way and was accepted without any objections - said: "I have thought about it over the years, there was an incident a few years ago when I was half persuaded to and there was a reaction from the General Secretary and I never fought it.

(Image: Liverpool Echo)

"But what I have seen over the past year or two, particularly with Jeremy Corbyn and people around him is a move along the lines that I would have wanted to see in the 80s, but what what has amazed me this week (at Labour Conference) is that you have seen something I never thought I would see, a situation where there is a Prime Minister in waiting who stands on every picket line, who is talking about nationalising the means of production, who is saying he is going to take on the billionaires.

"This is the sort of thing you would never have dreamed that a Labour leader would have said - certainly no Labour leader in my lifetime.

"I thought Jeremy's speech was brilliant - the other thing about Jeremy is he has started to actually say hang on a minute, there are ways of saying what we are saying, there are ways of getting resolutions through.

"I think there is almost a niceness that has come out (of conference) that people weren't expecting, a conciliatory bit - I've never been known for conciliation but I love that side of it."

He also backed Liverpool's current Labour Mayor Joe Anderson to continue in his role and praised the work he has done.

He said: "I've known Joe for a long, long time and I've got a lot of time for him. Of course we've had a lot of political differences over the years, but I've always respected what he's done and I do think as a Mayor and as far as the city is concerned, given what has happened - he has done an amazing job.

"Maybe now, the time is right to combine the job he has done as Mayor with a job as a political leader that's going to unite other authorities."

So does he see his readmission as a chance for vindication? He says it is more about looking forward.

He said: "I am more concerned about the future, I can sit and analyse the 80s all day and every day and those people who really know what happened , know what happened.

(Image: PA)

"It does annoy me sometimes when you see people talk about Liverpool going bankrupt in the 80s, which it never did, or about 30,000 people losing their jobs, which they never did - people have been allowed to say this without being corrected - which has p****d me off a bit, but there are going to be people who say that.

"Every single one of those redundancy letters was sent out with a letter signed by me and (then leader) John Hamilton saying none of these would be implemented and they weren't - and three thousand people got jobs as well."

And does he now fancy a shot at public office again? At his age, he said that is also something not at the top of his list.

He added: "I'm 70-years old - at this moment in time I have got no inclination at all to stand for any public office.

"At this moment of time I am just looking forward to getting involved with the Labour Party again - lets see what happens."