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Prominent Labour donor Michael Foster has been suspended from the party, after he likened Jeremy Corbyn 's campaign team to Nazi stormtroopers.

The party say he's been suspended for breaking a rule which bans "abuse of any kind".

The article, published in the Mail on Sunday, ran under the headline 'Why I despise Jeremy Corbyn and his 'Nazi stormtroopers', by Jewish Labour donor.'

The article followed Mr Foster's unsuccessful High Court bid to block Jeremy Corbyn from automatically being included on the Labour leadership ballot following a challenge.

Mr Foster denies using the word Nazi himself.

(Image: Mary Turner)

But he wrote: "To me, respect for the rule of law is fundamental to a democracy. Once political parties believe they are above the law it ends with all opposition silenced, whether it is my grandparents in Dachau, or the Left in Erdogan's Turkey rounded up and held uncharged in prison.

"The courts decided that the rules as they stand allowed it. This decision advantaged Corbyn and his Sturm Abteilung..."

The Sturm Abteilung - also known as the 'Brownshirts' - were the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Hitler's rise to power in Germany in the 1920s and 30s.

Mr Foster insists his remarks referred to Mr Corbyn's "leadership cadre", and could just as easily have compared them to the "Pretorian Guard or Revolutionary Guard or Red Guard - a group there to secure the leader and his political plans."

Mr Foster has donated £400,000 to the party over the past three years.

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell cited the lack of action against Michael Foster as evidence the suspension of members for rule-breaking was a "rigged purge" of Corbyn supporters.