Leader’s aide ‘donated to charity helping terror families’

PARLIAMENTARY authorities have launched an investigation into Jeremy Corbyn’s private secretary amid claims that she donated money to a charity that provides financial assistance to families of accused terrorists.

Iram Awan, a former member of the radical Left Unity party, has been accused of entering Parliament over a nine-month period despite delays with her application for a pass, which is vetted by the security services.

Ms Awan, who is believed to live in London with a senior activist in the Stop the War Coalition and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, is believed to have donated money to Helping Households Under Great Stress (HHUGS).

According to a previous posting on its website, HHUGS described itself as the “sister organisation” of Cage UK, which has courted controversy in the past over its association with Mohammed Emwazi, known as Jihadi John.

In a message posted on a crowdfunding page uncovered by the Huffington Post, Ms Awan described the charity as a “great cause”. It is unclear as to whether Ms Awan’s donation to HHUGS had any bearing on the delay in her pass being approved, although parliamentary sources last night pointed out that processing usually takes between two and six weeks.

But last night a family member, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed that the delay in approving her pass had “racist undertones”.

Separately, Andrew Murray, a second aide to Mr Corbyn, is also alleged to have breached parliamentary rules by regularly entering the estate despite his security pass being delayed by 11 months. Mr Murray, a long-standing ally of the Labour leader, is a former member of the Communist Party of Britain. Both aides are believed to have entered Parliament using visitor passes, which requires them to pass through airport-style security checks before being escorted by a full pass holder.

A Commons insider said that if officials find a serious breach has been committed, those responsible for escorting them in Parliament could face sanctions.

Asked about the issue yesterday, Mr Corbyn’s official spokesman said that the party did not comment on “staffing matters”, adding that they were aware “of all the rules in relation to parliamentary passes”.

“We deal with them every day, we are aware of the procedures and respect them,” he added, while a Labour source said that Mr Corbyn’s office had received no explanation as to why a pass “may not have yet been granted”.