Within Labour HQ they will be wincing in pain at the Sun’s frontpage story, because insiders knew there was a problem with Arnie Graf’s immigration status – a business visa only entitles the holder to have meetings, do deals, research, buy and sell goods and services – not to do paid work. The issue was flagged to Labour’s General Secretary Ian McNicol as recently as a few weeks ago. Legally the buck stops with him…

The Guardian reported as far back as June 2011 that there was a problem when it ran a profile about Arnie Graf’s hiring by Ed Miliband:

“It was an unusual commission: “‘Ed Miliband – would like you to do a piece of work for him?'” Chicago community organiser Arnie Graf recalls being asked back in November. “But because of our immigration rules and the type of visa you’re on,” the veteran activist quotes the Labour leader’s aide as continuing, “you can’t do anything ‘productive’.”

Arnie’s activities in the UK have changed over the years since, his original review of the party’s campaign stucture has led to more work, for which the Labour Party admits he has been paid his usual rate plus expenses. He has been spending months at a time in the UK, culminating in a starring role in last November’s Labour Party political broadcast in which he says “For 48 of my 50 year career I never worked for a politician or a political party. Fundamentally, I did not trust them. That is until I met Ed Miliband two years ago, along with hundreds of Labour party members and staff throughout the UK. I decided to work with Ed because I believe in his basic goodness and compassion.” A video confession that he is working illegally in the UK for the Labour Party…