Calls for Derek Draper to stand down

The fallout from the Damian McBride smear scandal could result in Derek Draper, who had planned to run the former Downing Street spin doctor's scurrilous attacks on both David Cameron and George Osborne’s wife, Frances, on his website, being expelled from the Labour Party. 

Leading the band of MPs who want to banish Draper (pictured), a Labour adviser, to the political wilderness is party general secretary Ray Collins, who yesterday banned Draper from attending any more meetings of the party's ruling National Executive Committee. 

The chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, Tony Lloyd has gone further, calling on Draper to stand down as editor of LabourList.org, the website backed by Gordon Brown and many other Cabinet ministers. It was on another website, Red Rag, that Draper had considered running the smears against Tory leaders, including a claim that David Cameron might have health issues based on the fact he had once admitted he had visited an STD clinic. 

But while McBride resigned as the Prime Minister's head of strategy and planning, Draper, who described the emails as "absolutely brilliant", is clinging on to his role at LabourList. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, he said: "I know there are people saying I should go but I think Labour List is a good idea and I hope to leave it for a week before deciding whether to try to soldier on, which is what I think at the moment." 

However, Tony Lloyd was not of the same mind: "It would be much better if Derek Draper stepped aside. It is just daft to think that this has not damaged us. I am sure Gordon Brown knew nothing about this but some people will always say that he did. It would be better for the Prime Minister, for the party, and for Derek if he walked away from all of this for good."  

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