Corbyn praises MP’s pro-Militant speech

JEREMY Corbyn backed one of his shadow ministers yesterday after she praised the Militant Tendency for breaking the law in the 1980s.

Dawn Butler applauded how Liverpool’s council had set an illegal budget in defiance of Margaret Thatcher. Hard-Left figures including Derek Hatton brought the local authority close to collapse in 1985 by deliberately proposing to spend more than it had – leading to redundancy notices being served on its 30,000-strong workforce.

Miss Butler’s comments triggered a backlash from within Labour, with peer Baroness Thornton tweeting: ‘Derek Hatton’s Militant colleagues were misogynistic bullies. We should not be praising them.’ But Mr Corbyn came to her defence, saying: ‘What she was doing was expressing support for the determination of the people of Liverpool.’