Trotskyite Hatton set to rejoin Labour after 33 years

Ex-militant member ousted by Neil Kinnock says his return is inspired by ‘brilliant’ Corbyn

DEREK HATTON, the former leading figure in Militant, was last night poised to rejoin Labour after party officials said his former affiliations would not “preclude him from being a member”. Three decades after he was ousted under Neil Kinnock’s leadership, Mr Hatton, one of the most divisive political figures in Labour’s history, has reapplied for membership after being inspired by Jeremy Corbyn.

Peter Taaffe, the former general secretary of the Trotskyist group, told The Daily Telegraph that Mr Hatton would also write to Labour to request that his Socialist Party, a spin-off of Militant, was accepted as an affiliate organisation. Mr Taaffe said he believed that in light of Mr Hatton’s application, which has not been contested by Labour, the doors would now be open for other former members of Militant to rejoin.

It comes days after Dawn Butler, a shadow minister, sparked controversy on the eve of Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, when she appeared to praise the actions of the city’s Militant-dominated council of the Eighties.

In a speech centred on funding cuts, Ms Butler said that the council had “stood up to Thatcher”, before echoing Militant’s slogan: “Better to break the law than break the poor”. Mr Hatton’s re-entry into Labour now looks certain, with Labour sources revealing yesterday that his chequered past would not be held against him.

In 1986, he was one of 47 councillors removed and banned from public office over their decision to run an illegal budget in defiance of Margaret Thatcher’s government. He and other members of the group were widely blamed for making Labour unelectable.

Mr Hatton said he decided to rejoin Labour after watching Mr Corbyn’s “brilliant” speech at the party’s conference in Liverpool on Wednesday.

“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 Eighties,” he told the Liverpool Echo.

“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.” Last night Mr Taaffe, the former editor of The Militant newspaper, said his movement was committed to bringing about a “Corbyn and Mcdonnell government,” adding that he had been “knocking at the door” and “making our support known”.

“Our approach is that there’s a new situation [in Labour], there’s a reconfiguration,” he added.

“It’s very much in-line with what has happened on the continent, with movements in Spain and France.”