Ronnie Draper says he has not been given a reason for his suspension, amid claims of purge of leader’s supporters

The leader of a pro-Jeremy Corbyn trade union has said he is considering taking legal action over his suspension from the Labour party, amid accusations of an unfair clearout of Corbyn supporters before the leadership election.

In his first full statement since news of his suspension emerged on Thursday, Ronnie Draper, the general secretary of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers union (BFAWU), said he had still not been told precisely why the action had been taken.

On Friday Corbyn expressed his own worries about the suspension during a visit to Edinburgh. Asked whether he agreed with his shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, that a “rigged purge” was taking place, Corbyn replied: “I’m very concerned that some people seem to have been unfairly removed from the ability to vote in this election.”

Corbyn added: “A number of people have contacted me as a result of that and we have sent the names in that we’re concerned about to the general secretary, and asked him to make sure that the party checks into this carefully to make sure that everyone who is eligible to vote is able to vote in this election. We want a fair and open election.”

In his statement, Draper, whose union has nearly 20,000 members, said he had received an email from the party on Tuesday saying he was suspended.



“I am now blocked from attending Labour party meetings, annual conference and, above all, voting in the leadership election,” he said. “The only explanation I have been given is that this is something to do with an unidentified tweet I have posted. I have not been given the opportunity to refute any allegations, or a date for any hearing.

“I believe this flies in the face of natural justice. I intend to challenge my suspension robustly and am currently taking legal advice.”

Draper said he was not seeking any special treatment, arguing that “all members should be allowed to be heard and be given the opportunity to vote for the candidate of their choice”.

He said: “I am extremely concerned that suspensions and bans are being imposed in an arbitrary or politically motivated way in this election, and I will be raising the issue with the general secretary.”

Labour has said only that it does not discuss national executive committee (NEC) decisions concerning individual members. The party’s general secretary, Iain McNicol, tweeted to correct McDonnell’s statement saying Draper had been suspended by “party officials”, to stress it had been done by the NEC.

Iain McNicol (@IainMcNicol) .@johnmcdonnellMP John, just to clarify you say 'party officials'. Decisions are made by elected NEC members, and not party staff.

The suspension highlights what some Corbyn supporters see as wider attempts by those in the party who support the leadership challenger, Owen Smith, to weed out members and registered supporters who are seeking to vote to keep Corbyn in office.



The party’s compliance unit is working through applications to check whether 180,000 new registered supporters who signed up to take part in the vote are eligible, or whether some are members of, or public advocates for, other groups.

Corbyn’s team believes the party’s compliance committee makes arbitrary decisions, often on political grounds, some of which could breach members’ human rights.

In an angry statement on Thursday night, McDonnell endorsed these fears, saying: “Labour party members will not accept what appears to be a rigged purge of Jeremy Corbyn supporters. The conduct of this election must be fair and even-handed.”

The shadow chancellor said he had asked McNicol to ensure any members suspended or denied a vote were told why.

Adding to the recriminations is a high court battle over whether 130,000 full members who joined Labour in the past six months are eligible to vote. After the NEC ruled they were not, a group of members won a high court challenge against the decision, only for this to be overturned on appeal.

McDonnell questioned why Draper had been suspended while the Labour peer David Sainsbury had had no action taken against him after Electoral Commission figures showed he had donated £2.1m to the Liberal Democrats in the first quarter of this year, as well as the same sum to Labour.



Lord Sainsbury, a science minister in the upper house under Tony Blair, released a statement saying both donations had been intended to fund the pro-remain Britain Stronger in Europe campaign before the EU referendum in June.

A Labour spokeswoman said she was looking into whether there were any internal rules explicitly preventing members from donating to other parties. It is not known whether Sainsbury, who is on a leave of absence from the Lords, is still a Labour member.