Jeremy Corbyn’s aide who worked for months in Parliament without security clearance called for Nato be ‘defeated’ and has been linked to a terror group, MailOnline can reveal.
Andrew Murray, chief of staff of the Unite union and one of the Mr Corbyn’s closest allies, came out openly in support of terrorists at a rally at which the Labour leader also spoke.
He took the stage to read out a message sent to him by Ali Fayyad, a Hezbollah terror chief.
The letter began, ‘Greetings to you from the freedom fighters of Hezbollah,’ and included an extended anti-British, anti-American and anti-Israeli rant that justified kidnap and violence.
Jeremy Corbyn’s aide Andrew Murray (pictured with the Labour leader) spent seven months working in Parliament without a security pass to do so, having applied for one 12 months ago
Footage has emerged of Mr Murray, 60, who is chief of staff for trade union Unite, speaking on stage at a rally in 2009 (pictured) where he called for Nato to be defeated
‘Hezbollah’s only fault is that it is a Lebanese resistance movement,’ it said, calling British policy on the Middle East a ‘shameful position’.
People at the rally carried banners saying ‘victory to the intifada’ and ‘we are all Hezbollah’ and waved the communist flag. Mr Corbyn himself also spoke, railing against Israeli ‘state terrorism’.
Mr Murray, who joined the Labour leader at the head of the anti-West Stop The War Coalition, also said he supported militants attacking Western troops.
At a Europeans Against Nato rally in 2009, he ranted: ‘Our desire to defeat Nato demands that we extend the hand of solidarity… to those who are exercising their right to resist.’
He added: ‘Only in unity, north and south, east and west, European and Middle Eastern, will we defeat the Nato leaders. That is what we must do.’
At a rally in 2006, Mr Murray read out a message sent to him by Ali Fayad, a Ukrainian arms dealer and senior Hezbollah terror chief, who was jailed in 2014 in the US for funding terror
People at the rally (pictured, which before Mr Fayad was convicted, carried banners saying ‘victory to the intifada’ and ‘we are all Hezbollah’ and waved the communist flag
Mr Corbyn has come under intense pressure since it was revealed that two of his closest aides have been working in Parliament for months without security clearance and faces a probe
In a report on the 2006 march, where 20,000 people are said to have attended, the Socialist party newspaper wrote: ‘Left-wing leading members of the Stop the War Coalition, including George Galloway and Andrew Murray, not only failed to raise socialist ideas but also expressed uncritical support for the Islamist Hamas and Hezbollah.’
A speech was also made by activist and long-term Corbyn ally Azzam Tamimi, who said he wanted to blow himself up in a suicide attack.
‘Sacrificing myself for Palestine is a noble cause,’ he told the BBC. ‘It is the straight way to pleasing my God and I would do it if I had the opportunity.’
Hezbollah is an Iran-backed Shia militia in Lebanon that was set up in the early 1980s.
Its followers use the Hitler salute and has carried out terror attacks against Jews both in Israel and worldwide. Britain views its military wing as a terrorist entity.
Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, told MailOnline: ‘Make no mistake, Hezbollah is actively planning attacks around the world, including in Europe and in the UK.
‘It is no surprising that a Corbyn ally has these sympathies. After all, Corbyn himself called Hezbollah his friends a few years ago.
‘To have supporters in the heart of our democracy will give the terrorists great encouragement. It is deeply worrying and it must be stopped.’
Mr Corbyn is facing a probe over claims that a second aide has also been working in Parliament without security clearance.
His Private Secretary, Iram Awan, a British-born pro-Palestinian activist was not granted full security passes but continued to work for the Labour leader in Parliament for nine months using a visitor’s pass.
Mr Corbyn is under intense pressure because every staffer in Parliament requires a Commons pass and is required to undergo a counter-terrorist check (CTC) into their background and associates.
Mr Murray is the grandson of a Tory MP and was educated at a £32,000-a-year public school. He appears in Debrett’s Peerage, the guide to Britain’s aristocracy. His full moniker is Andrew Drummond-Murray of Mastrick.
His father, Peter Drummond-Murray of Mastrick, was a banker and stockbroker from an old Scottish family.
His mother, Barbara, was the daughter of Lord Rankeillour, a Conservative MP who later became Governor of Madras in India.
Corbyn’s Private Secretary Iram Awan (pictured with Corbyn), a British-born national, has also been working, this time for nine months, in Parliament using a visitor’s pass, which is against the rules
Mr Murray was a member of Britain’s communist party until 2016 and has praised Stalin and North Korea. On one occasion, he reportedly said: ‘Against imperialists, we are all Stalinists’.
On another, he pledged ‘solidarity’ with the North Korean regime. It normally takes a matter of weeks for Parliamentary passes to be processed.
However, Mr Murray and Miss Awan have not yet had their application approved despite taking up the role with the Labour leader many months ago. Commons authorities are now investigating whether Parliamentary rules have been broken by Mr Corbyn’s office in allowing them to work in Parliament.
Tory MPs have also written to the Serjeant-at-Arms, who is responsible for order and security in the Commons, to demand he also investigates the affair.
Tory Party chairman Brandon Lewis said last night: ‘This clear breach of security not only puts Parliament at risk, it also raises serious questions about Jeremy Corbyn’s judgment and integrity.’
Tory MP Leo Docherty added: ‘We all know how the security of Parliament is a matter of the utmost importance and Jeremy Corbyn has put this at risk.’
Commons authorities were facing questions last night about the apparent breach of basic security rules.
A Labour spokesman said: ‘We do not comment on staffing matters.’