Conduct of Jeremy Corbyn's aide Seumas Milne 'an absolute disgrace' says Labour MP Ian Austin

The head of communications' conduct during the reshuffle was criticised

Seumas Milne, Labour's head of communications (Corbis)

A Labour MP has hit out at the conduct of one of Jeremy Corbyn’s top advisors during the party’s reshuffle, branding him “an absolute disgrace”.

Ian Austin said the reshuffle had been “an absolute shambles” and that Seumas Milne’s approach to managing the media was “extraordinary”.

He questioned whether Mr Corbyn should have hired Mr Milne as Labour’s director of strategy and communications’.

“I’ve been involved in reshuffles the last 20 years, this is the worst handled and most botched reshuffle I’ve ever seen,” he told BBC News.

“[In] the weeks before … you had people in the leader’s office, I’m told by journalists, Seumas Milne, telling us that Hilary Benn was going to be sacked, that Michael Dugher was going to be sacked, a whole long list of people, not for questions of competence or loyalty but because they voted a different way on a free vote.

“I wouldn’t have appointed somebody with his views and his background to a senior position in the Labour party in the first place but I think his behaviour over the last few weeks has been an absolute disgrace."

A spokesperson for Mr Corbyn however said: “We totally reject these allegations. Seumas Milne is doing his job in the normal way, as is everyone else.”

Reporting in the run-up to the reshuffle – citing Labour sources – suggested that shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn and shadow business secretary Angela Eagle could be sacked. Ultimately both remained in their posts.

The reports of a “revenge reshuffle” spurred some MPs to criticise the idea that Mr Corbyn might launch one.

Ultimately the only shadow cabinet members to lose their jobs were Michael Dugher and Pat McFadden – both of whom had criticised the so-called “revenue reshuffle”.

Three junior ministers have so far resigned from the front bench in the wake of the reshuffle, citing a mix of political differences and hostility to the sacking of Mr McFadden.

Mr Milne was a columnist at the Guardian newspaper before taking up his post with Labour.

Mr Austin was a former parliamentary private secretary to Gordon Brown and then a junior minister at the Department of Communities and Local Government during Labour's last government.