Despite having the Labour whip removed in September last year, Guido suspected Claudia Webbe was never truly out of the Labour tent. While it’s true Webbe is now officially independent in Westminster, Islington Council still lists her as Labour; Guido tried inquiring whether this had merely not been updated or whether it was correct – he was either palmed off or failed to get a response…

Now it looks like Claudia isn’t quite so ‘independent’ in SW1 as first thought: last night in response to a Tory council candidate calling for Bristol to be bombed in the wake of Sunday night’s riot, Labour MPs were sent individual briefing texts from the Parliamentary Labour Party office:

“Colleagues are encouraged to tweet and tag Amanda Milling (@amandamilling) and CCHQ (@Conservatives) following the outrageous comments of Stephen Halhuber, a council candidate for the Tories in Eastbourne.”

Who else clearly got sent this attack line? None other than supposedly-suspended Claudia Webbe:

Tory Policy - shocking@amandamilling @Conservatives https://t.co/behpfuRPwP

— Claudia Webbe MP (@ClaudiaWebbe) March 22, 2021

It begs the question, is Jeremy Corbyn still receiving Labour Party briefings?