The court’s decision backed rules originally set by Labour’s governing body, the National Executive Committee (NEC).
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But Foster lauded a Court of Appeal ruling later in the week that effectively reintroduced a voting ban on almost 130,000 Labour members in the leadership election in what is seen as a disadvantage to Corbyn.
The proceedings from Court 71 were painful to watch – not just for Labour supporters who want the party in power, but also for anyone who cares about democracy and holding the government to account.
“Serious questions must be raised over why and how the NEC Procedures Committee brought this appeal”, he added.
The suit was brought against the party by five members who said the ban amounted to a breach of contract because they had “paid their dues” for the right to vote.
This latest ruling comes after a High Court Judge ruled on Tuesday in favour of a group of members.
A Labour spokesperson accused him of “patronising members”, prompting Mr Watson to produce a dossier of evidence in support of his claims and urge Mr Corbyn to help combat the issue.
“Corbyn and his leadership team have no respect for others and worse, no respect for the rule of law”. Alas, our courts are too interventionist for that; the lower court decided against the NEC, which decision I disapproved of. In doing so, it effectively risked new members’ money on an attempt to disenfranchise them. “It was the correct decision to seek clarification on this fundamental principle in the Court of Appeal”.
The five members who dropped the legal challenge were Christine Evangelou, Rev Edward Leir, Hannah Fordham, Chris Granger and an anonymous teenager referred to as “FM”.
After Mr Watson earlier claimed “Trotsky entryists” were seeking to influence the party, Mr Corbyn told the Observer his elected deputy was talking “nonsense” because it is highly unlikely all 300,000 new members belonged to the revolutionary left.
Mr Smith told the Press Association: “I don’t think it changes anything for me”. If someone has developed their politics to be members of the Labour party, even though they were once members of the Lib Dems, or Greens or something, fine.
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Labour critics claim he is unsuited to lead the party into a general election and blame him for a half-hearted, ultimately unsuccessful campaign to keep Britain in the European Union ahead of an in-out referendum.
