A close aide of UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been working at Westminster without the required security credentials, the Huffington Post reported Tuesday.
Pakistan-born Iram Awan, Corbyn's personal secretary, was accused of showing up to his Commons office for over nine months without a Parliamentary security pass, and instead used a visitor's pass and had Labour staffers escort her to Corbyn's office regularly.
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A Commons spokesman said: "Visitor passes are for visitors only; they cannot be used to carry out work on the parliamentary estate," a Commons spokesman stated. "An investigation into an alleged breach of Parliamentary rules has been launched and so we will not be commenting further."
"We have not been told that any member of staff has been refused a pass or any reasons for why any pass may not have yet been granted," a source within Labour said.
UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has a Pakistani aide Iram Awan who was denied security clearance, yet he allowed her to work inside Parliament. The Islamist infiltration is deep across the West. https://t.co/6uzQVlBai0
— Tarek Fatah (@TarekFatah) September 13, 2018
Conservative MP of Aldershot Leo Doherty requested the investigation after writing to Kamal El-Hajji, Serjeant at Arms and the Common's top security official.
"You will not need me to remind you how we have seen in recent months and years how the security of Parliament is a matter of the utmost importance," Doherty stated. "It is incumbent upon all of us who work on the Parliamentary estate, whatever role it is in or party we represent, to ensure the proper procedure is followed always."
Despite Doherty's criticisms, Corbyn's office already reported concerns on pass approval delays Wednesday to Commons authorities.
Andrew Murray, Unite official and key Corbyn aide, also worked occasionally from the Labour leader's office without required security clearances, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.
The aides waiting for their security passes both have close connections to Stop The War: Andrew Murray founded it, Iram Awan's partner is a member of its steering committeehttps://t.co/TEhHOBeQXF
— Dominic Kennedy (@TimesKennedy) September 13, 2018
Murray is a former member of the UK Communist party and was reportedly given a parliamentary lobby pass while working for the Morning Star newspaper in the 1980s. However, he has still not received his own security pass since October 2017, nearly a year after applying for it, without any updates or official rejections, Huffington Post mentioned.
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"Andrew considers this a petty attempt to disrupt the working of the Leader's office," a source close to Murray stated. Awan will also likely work outside of Parliament more often, but will continue attending meetings with Corbyn.
The latest charge levied against Jeremy Corbyn comes after former prime minister Tony Blair criticized his leadership, stating that his party had undergone a "profound change" and alledging that Labour had become "a different type of [Party]". The labour leader has also battled accusations ranging from antisemitism to poor policies, but membership has soared to roughly 540,000 people as of April 2018, a Parliament report highlighted. A Survation poll also found that Labour still retains popular support of British voters.
