Second Iranian sympathiser joined banned TV man

LABOUR was last night probing claims that two Iranian sympathisers ‘infiltrated’ the party to try to oust a pro-Israel MP.

Sources cl ai m a 26- year- ol d Labour member was the man who broke party rules by filming a no-confidence vote in Enfield MP Joan Ryan for Iranian channel Press TV, which is banned here.

Party insiders say the man joined Labour in July 2015. And they claim that another pro-Iran man gained access to the meeting after joining the local party just a few months ago.

A party insider said last night: ‘We think there were at least two Iranian sympathisers in the meeting – it was very organised.’

The man at the centre of the probe could not be reached for comment yesterday, although a family member confirmed he had attended the meeting and worked for Press TV. They declined to say whether he filmed it.

Ms Ryan – chairman of Labour Friends of Israel and a leading critic of Jeremy Corbyn – narrowly lost the no-confidence vote by 92 votes to 95. The MP has said she is ‘horrified’ at the way the party had been infiltrated.

But there were claims last night that the entire no-confidence ballot was invalid as more people took part than were eligible to vote. One witness said: ‘In total, 191 people voted – including four spoilt ballot papers. But there were only 187 eligible members at the meeting.’

The vote against Ms Ryan coincided with a similar action by local party members against Luton MP Gavin Shuker and protests against Nottingham MP Chris Leslie, both critics of their party leader.

Leading Labour moderate MP Chuka Umunna yesterday appealed to Mr Corbyn to ‘call off the dogs’, saying it was within the party leader’s power to stop the votes.

But Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell branded Mr Umunna’s language ‘appalling’ and denied party activists were engaged in a purge of MPs critical of Mr Corbyn.

He said: ‘There are no dogs being called on. I actually think referring to our party members as dogs is just unacceptable.’