Labour’s former Head of Disputes has said he will take "legal recourse" against one of Jeremy Corbyn's top advisers after being accused of making "false" claims in last week's BBC Panorama documentary about the party's antisemitism crisis.
Mike Creighton, who worked for the party for 27 years, confirmed he and the seven other whistleblowers who appeared in the show were furious that Labour had tried to brand them as "disaffected" ex-employees for speaking out about racism against Jews.
During the documentary, Mr Creighton had claimed Seumus Milne, Mr Corbyn's comunications chief, had "laughed" at him when he said the Labour leader needed to confirm he supported Israel's right to exist.
In a statement, Labour called the claim "false and malicious."
Mr Creighton told the JC: ”Everyone who appeared on the Panorama was disaffected - but they were disaffected at the way antisemitism was being handled by Jeremy Corbyn and his leadership team.
“Saying all you are trying to do is undermine Corbyn is a disgrace. I feel really quite angry about it.”
Mr Creighton, who retired from his job at Labour HQ in 2017, revealed he had been summoned to give evidence to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) as part of its investigation into allegations Labour was "institutionally antisemitic".
He said: “Seumas Milne has accused me of being a liar for discussing the meeting - but my legal recourse will be through the investigation being conducted by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission into the party.
"I have been summoned to give evidence and will be happy to get involved."
“When the EHRC look into it they will find that the meeting did take place. There are witnesses that will back me up on that. I reported Seumas’s reaction to our meeting within seconds of it ending.
“It was in the General Secretary’s office. The is also documentary evidence of the meeting recorded in the electronic diary.”
During last Wednesday’s Panorama, Mr Creighton said he had been approached by Mr Milne in the Spring of 2016.
Mr Creighton claimed Mr Milne laughed at his suggestions on how the Labour leader could deal with the antisemitism problem.
Mr Creighton said: “Seumas was clearly scared of antisemitism becoming a thing.”
In a speech on Saturday at the Durham Miners' Gala Jeremy Corbyn said: “I watched the [Panorama] programme and I felt there were many, many inaccuracies.
“The programme adopted a pre-determined position on its own website before it was broadcast.”
Meanwhile, Unite union boss Len McCluskey sparked anger with an attack on Labour deputy leader Tom Watson.
He said Mr Watson's criticism of General Secretary Jennie Formby was a "f**king disgrace" because it came at a time she was being treated for cancer.
