Derek Draper urged to get off the political stage

Labour adviser Derek Draper was today urged to resign from running a website with links to the party and quit the national political stage.

Sunder Katwala, general secretary of the Left-wing think tank The Fabian Society, also demanded the publication of the names of the secret backers of LabourList site which was going to be used to promote the Red Rag website to disseminate smears on Tory MPs.

LabourList, a networking site run by Mr Draper, is believed to received funding from the Unite union, whose political director is Charlie Whelan, a former spin doctor for Gordon Brown.

Writing on the Next Left blog, Mr Katwala says Mr Draper should no longer act as a "voluntary adviser" on the internet to Labour.

"Draper needs to resign from LabourList too," he adds. "If Draper has the interests of the Labour Party at heart, he should realise that he can play no useful public role at all in the run-up
to the 2010 general election. "

Mr Draper, who is considering quitting, received an e-mail from Damian McBride proposing scurrilous lines which could be used to damage David Cameron, George Osborne and other Tory MPs.

Labour is desperately seeking to distance itself from LabourList but Mr Katwala stressed it had "quasi-official status" because so many senior figures within the party had engaged with it.

"I do not think very much is known about LabourList. If it is to deal with its own reputational issues, it needs to pay more attention to governance and to transparency," he added.

"Given Charlie Whelan's involvement with the Red Rag outlet, that creates further problems.
"We need to know who the directors are, and who the funders are, and to ensure there is a clear and public editorial policy."

Mr Whelan, who was copied in on an e-mail from Mr McBride, resigned as an aide to Mr Brown a decade ago after the furore over the secret home loan from Geoffrey Robinson to Peter Mandselson. On its website, LabourList says it receives no money from the Labour Party but is supported by advertising, sponsorship and donations.

New Labour's early years were hit by the scandal of lobbyists, including Mr Draper, boasting that they could get access to senior ministers.