A Jeremy Corbyn supporter who called Theresa May “a terrorist” in the wake of the Manchester suicide bombing has been expelled from the Labour party, HuffPost UK has learned.
Tina Buckley hit the headlines on Wednesday when she shouted abuse at the Prime Minister through the security gates at Downing Street.
Buckley was captured on video as she attacked May’s decision to deploy the Army following the murder of 22 children and adults at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester
Labour staff were alerted to the incident and decided to expel Buckley when they discovered her Twitter feed contained repeated support for former Respect MP George Galloway.
Sources insisted it was this rather than her remarks outside No.10 that were the justification under party rules for explusion.
Buckley was wearing a backpack emblazoned with a photo of Jeremy Corbyn and the word ‘Hope’ when she approached the Downing Street gates to make her point about previous foreign wars conducted by the UK.
As both troops and police looked on, she shouted: “The biggest terrorists occupy this place. Theresa May you’re a terrorist, you’re the biggest terrorist.
“Get rid of this vile, terrorist Government and vote for the politics of peace, vote for the politics of a future!”
Buckley, from West London, has posted selfies with senior Labour figures including Jeremy Corbyn and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell.
She was informed by email and by letter of her expulsion on Thursday.
Labour has also suspended another party member after she claimed that the suicide bombing was “wonderful timing for Theresa May”.
Debbie Hicks, the vice-chair of Stroud Labour party, apologised for and deleted a Facebook post she had posted after the suicide bomb outrage.
She had written: “What has happened in Manchester is awful and my thoughts are with the families. However I can’t help thinking this is wonderful timing for Theresa May.
“It is well known that politicians use events as part of their campaigns or messages”.
Labour’s candidate and former MP for Stroud, David Drew, criticised her remarks and after the backlash Hicks withdrew her comments saying they were “ill-timed and I apologise for any offence caused”.
“As I said before and I will say again, all my thoughts are with the families involved in the senseless attack in Manchester.”
The party has been at pains to distance itself from anyone appearing to exploit the Manchester attacks, with Shadow Attorney General declaring “this is not the moment for conspiracy theories”.
A Labour councillor, Pam Bromley, wrote on Facebook that the deployment of troops was just an attempt to help May win the general election.
“The Manchester atrocity is just a handy excuse to attempt to squash Corbyn’s growing support. OMG how terrible [sic] convenient for Theresa May –she has an excuse to bring in the army just before an election at which she faces potential defeat”
Bromley, a councillor in Rossendale, Lancashire, has been “reminded of her responsibilities” but not suspended, party insiders told HuffPost UK.