Jeremy Corbyn, of all people, should be more tolerant of Alastair Campbell’s dissent

With his record, and that of his closest advisers, the Labour leader should be expelling people for antisemitism, not for policy disagreements

It was spin of which New Labour would have been proud. Alastair Campbell had not been expelled, a Labour official explained – he had excluded himself from membership.

Campbell admitted on TV on Sunday night, as the results of the European elections were being announced, that he had voted Liberal Democrat because he felt strongly that Labour ought to have argued for staying in the EU.

Today he said he had received an email from the Labour Party telling him he had been expelled – by which it presumably meant automatically self-excluded. It was unfortunate for Jeremy Corbyn that this news came on the same day that the Equalities and Human Rights Commission announced it was launching a formal inquiry into allegations against Labour of antisemitism.

It meant inevitable comparisons between the speed with which the party had acted to expel Campbell and the often long-drawn-out disciplinary hearings involved for those members accused of prejudice against Jews.

The Labour Party is entitled to claim that Campbell’s case is open and shut. Its rules forbid members from supporting or campaigning for candidates standing against Labour candidates, and announcing on TV that you voted for a rival party would seem to be in breach of that rule.

But there are grey areas and inconsistencies. Andrew Fisher, head of policy in Corbyn’s office, advocated voting for an outfit called Class War in the 2015 general election. He was briefly suspended from membership when this came to light later in the year, by which time Corbyn was leader and Fisher one of his senior staff. But that was that.

Corbyn himself congratulated George Galloway, then of the Respect Party, on his win in the Bradford West by-election in 2012. “Big message here on opposition to wars and austerity,” Corbyn tweeted.

As with Campbell, it was after the event and designed to make the case for a change in Labour policy.

This is not simply a matter of favouritism for the leader and his allies. David Aaronovitch, the anti-Corbyn Times columnist, wrote about voting Lib Dem and Green when he was a party member and no action was taken against him.

Campbell’s expulsion raises a fundamental question about pluralism, debate and tolerance in a serious national party. No party can function if its members are working for rivals, but Campbell’s motive was plainly to press his case in an internal Labour debate.

Any serious national party has to be a broad and effective coalition. Corbyn shouldn’t be involved in disciplinary matters, but we know that he is, and he should set the tone. Campbell’s offence should have been indulged, or treated as leniently as Fisher’s was, while the party should have stepped up its efforts to educate its members about antisemitism and clear out those who knowingly cross that line.

Campbell, who once said he was more spinned against than spinning, is entitled to renew his complaint.