Communists for Corbyn?

Guest blogger Daniel Davies says one of Britain's communist parties blames another faction for alleged infiltration of the Labour party.

"It's really a bit silly, a bit Life of Brian," says Robert Griffiths, general secretary of the Communist Party.

You may have read that some people in the Labour Party are worried about communists hijacking their leadership contest.

It's been suggested that hard-left activists have registered as Labour supporters so they can vote for Jeremy Corbyn.

But Mr Griffiths, from Cardiff, would like to point out that these aren't his communists.

In fact, the Communist Party told its members in June to stay out of the Labour leadership election.

Mr Griffiths claims the supposed infiltrators you've been reading about are from the Communist Party of Great Britain - and that's not the same thing as the Communist Party.

If you're looking for the Communist Party allied to the Morning Star newspaper and recognised by communist parties around the world, then that's his party, Mr Griffiths says.

On the other hand, the Communist Party of Great Britain, he says, is an "ultra-left" organisation using his party's old name.

Perhaps you can see why this little sub-plot to the Labour leadership election reminds him of the Pythons' squabble about who really represents the people of Judea.