Jeremy Corbyn has appointed to his inner circle a hard-left trade unionist who has repeatedly mocked the Queen, opposed the National Anthem and attacked the British Army. Guido can reveal Tim Lezard has been hired to advise Corbyn on trade union relations and will work for the Labour leader in the party’s Southside HQ. He has some very bold views…

In a series of inflammatory tweets, staunch republican Lezard wrote that he doesn’t sing the national anthem “because I don’t believe the Queen should reign over us” and boasted of refusing to stand for the anthem at an England football match. Lezard also mocked the army, writing that “paedophiles” should “join the Army and abuse a foreign kid for just £1,000”.

In other tweets, Lezard mocked the Queen when she was suffering from illness and said Corbyn should not kneel before her. He also criticised fundraising for the Help For Heroes charity:

Lezard has also posted a series of controversial tweets about Jews and Israel, including that Holocaust Memorial Day should remember “not just the 6m Jews”, and comparing supporters of Israel to Nazis:

When approached by Guido this afternoon, Lezard confirmed he wrote the tweets and that he has been hired to work for Corbyn at Labour’s Southside HQ. A spokesman for Jeremy Corbyn told Guido: “We do not comment on staffing matters“. On the day Jeremy Corbyn delivered a major speech on defence, it emerges one of his top aides has repeatedly mocked the Army and the Queen…