MP threatens to SUE Jeremy Corbyn after Labour leader draws up ‘hit list’ of enemies
A LABOUR MP has threatened to sue Jeremy Corbyn for defamation after the Labour leader’s team drew up a ‘hit list’ of those alleged to have abused the veteran left-winger and his allies.
Neil Coyle, MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, today revealed he will be “talking to a lawyer” after his name was included in a press release from Mr Corbyn’s leadership campaign team.
The release highlighted the alleged behaviour of a number of Labour MPs.
It included Jess Phillips for telling Mr Corbyn's ally Diane Abbott to "f*** off", John Woodcock for dismissing Mr Corbyn as a "f****** disaster" and Tristram Hunt for describing Labour as "in the s***".
Mr Corbyn’s team later distanced itself from the document insisting it was a draft that had been issued accidentally by a junior member of staff and was not meant for official use.
But, in an apparent contradiction to his own campaign team, Mr Corbyn last night defended the list and dismissed the criticism during a Sky News debate with leadership rival Owen Smith.
The pair went head-to-head with little more than a week left until the result of the Labour leadership election is announced, with Mr Corbyn widely expected to cling on to his role.
Commenting on the dossier, Mr Corbyn said: "There was information put out there which is statements that colleagues made on the record and it's all stuff that is out there on the public record."
Mr Smith accused Mr Corbyn of being “deeply divisive”.
Anyone who hasn't yet voted can see choosing Corbyn means continued division & his permissive bullying environment. https://t.co/6vBdoMW0m9
— Neil Coyle (@coyleneil) September 15, 2016
After the release was issued last night, Mr Coyle described himself as “fuming” and hit out at the “desperate, trial by troll, victim-culture claims”.
Warning Mr Corbyn he is considering legal action, he told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire show today: “I’ve let the chief whip, the party general secretary and the party chair know I’m upset.
“I let the leader know yesterday I was upset and wanted to know what I was being accused of.
“If I receive a written apology from the leader and if this statement, this ridiculous, petty, student politics list is retracted, that would help.
“But I will still be talking to a lawyer tomorrow. This is defamation.
“I’ve been accused of abuse. That is completely unacceptable and it’s so unprofessional.”
Asked whether he is planning to sue his party leader, Mr Coyle said: “Yes, and it would be the leader, not the party, because this has been issued apparently by someone in his campaign team.”
The MP said the row highlighted the “sorry state” Mr Corbyn had left his party in.
Smith: Corbyn not serious about beating the Tories
I will still be talking to a lawyer tomorrow. This is defamation.
Fellow Labour MPs named on the list derided the party leader’s team’s excuse for the release of the document.
Mr Woodcock branded blaming a junior member of Mr Corbyn’s campaign team as the “oldest trick in book” and warned the “shabby” list “deliberately targets colleagues for more abuse” from hard-left activists.
Deputy party leader Tom Watson had been picked out for calling the grassroots pro-Corbyn campaign Momentum a "rabble".
A spokesman for Mr Watson said: "Tom Watson has received an apology from (press aide) James Mills on behalf of the junior press officer in Jeremy Corbyn's campaign team who released this list by mistake."
The results of the Labour leadership contest will be announced on Saturday September 24 as party members gather in Liverpool for Labour's annual conference.