Article originally published 07/08/2016: due to a technical issue this article may have resurfaced for some readers, and the original publish date may not have been visible.
A Labour MP has condemned the founder of the influential pro-Jeremy Corbyn campaign group for backing a Tory election candidate trying to oust him.
Clive Efford, MP for Eltham in South London, said he “won’t be taking any lectures on loyalty” after Momentum’s James Schneider admitted supporting the Conservatives ten years’ ago.
Momentum has been a key supporter of Corbyn and his left-wing policies, and Schneider has made several high-profile media appearances in support of the troubled Labour leader.
Schneider, who has admitted he voted Green in the last election, made several comments on the grassroots Conservative Home website, including one appearing to back Efford’s Tory opponent.
When confronted over a series of posts, Schneider, 29, told Buzzfeed News that he was a “teenager then and my views weren’t formed then”. “I’m an adult now,” the site report him saying, who added he was disappointed with the Labour administration of Tony Blair at the time. On Twitter, he repeated that he “never voted Tory”.
Now Efford, among scores of Labour MPs fearing Corbyn’s leadership could sink Labour, has fired off a series of incredulous tweets, making clear he is “amazed and disappointed” that Corbyn would choose “someone with history supporting Tories against Labour to run his campaign”.
Efford questions whether he is a ‘Red Tory’ - a term of abuse used by someone on social media for Labour politicians who are not left-wing enough for their liking.
Momentum has been organising hugely popular rallies in support of Corbyn’s re-election campaign.
The Efford Tweets ...
The tweets by Efford, who is supporting Owen Smith in the Labour leadership election, won support from fellow MPs fearful of Corbyn’s continued rule.
The Huffington Post spoke to Schneider at length last year, below.