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Revolutionary socialist Gerry Downing to appeal against Labour expulsion | |
(about 9 hours later) | |
Gerry Downing, a revolutionary socialist expelled by Labour after criticism of his views on 9/11, has said he will appeal against the move. | |
David Cameron called on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to expel him from the party at Prime Minister's Questions. | |
Labour's ruling NEC later said it had excluded him after "further evidence" had come to light about him. | |
Mr Downing said his views on 9/11 and so-called Islamic State had been quoted out of context. | |
In the Commons on Wednesday, David Cameron quoted a blog by Mr Downing, which said the 9/11 hijackers "must never be condemned". | |
Mr Downing insisted he had been explaining the motivation of the 9/11 attackers, "not agreeing with what they were doing", adding: "I don't support the politics of Isis, they are vile barbarians. But I don't support American imperialist bombing either." | |
'Motivation' | |
Mr Downing, a former bus driver and member of the tiny Socialist Fight group, told the Daily Politics: "The ambition to overthrow capitalism is a very legitimate political ambition." | |
He was expelled by the Labour Party last August over views expressed on his Twitter feed and blog but was re-instated in November after an appeal. | He was expelled by the Labour Party last August over views expressed on his Twitter feed and blog but was re-instated in November after an appeal. |
Mr Downing said he "had been" a Labour member until Wednesday night, "but nobody bothered to inform" him that he'd been excluded. | |
He told the Daily Politics the party "should be welcoming" to people with his views and he planned to seek re-admittance. | |
"If it allows UKIP councillors who defect and it allows people from the far right, and people of that nature, I cannot see why it should not allow in people like me." | |
Asked by presenter Andrew Neil whether he would condemn the 9/11 attackers, Mr Downing said he wouldn't use the word "condemn", saying he would seek to "understand the motivation of the people that did that." | |
'US Imperialism' | |
Mr Downing said his group does not support so-called Islamic State "militarily or politically" but he does believe in providing "tactical" support, which he explained as being against US bombing. | |
He said he was not a "personal friend" of John McDonnell but said the shadow chancellor had "secured some justice for me" in a work dispute, after the two men met on the Labour Representation Committee. | |
Times journalist Philip Collins, a former speech writer to Tony Blair, said he was "delighted" Mr Downing had been expelled, telling him there was "no place in the Labour Party for your views". | |
In an open letter to Mr Corbyn, before Mr Downing's latest expulsion, Labour MP John Woodcock, a longstanding critic of the Labour leader, said his group's views were "sickening and bring our party into disrepute". | |
In a statement of its aims on its website, Socialist Fight says: "We defend the 'Islamic State' in Syria and Iraq against the bombing of US imperialism but do not ally with them against the Kurdish defenders of Kobane and Rojava (Western Kurdistan)." | |
The post goes on to explain its stance in some detail. saying, among things, that "the Islamic State is a reactionary utopia and has no legitimate right to self-determination". |