Labour MELTDOWN: Plot by Corbyn supporting hard-left may 'destroy' the party, deputy says
A SECRET plot by the hard-left could “destroy” the Labour party after claims Jeremy Corbyn supporters wanted to seize permanent control in a secret deal with Unite union boss Len McCluskey.
Corbyn supporter group Momentum could 'destroy' Labour
Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson warned the party could “cease to exist as an electoral force” if the plotters were successful, in an angry Twitter exchange with Jon Lansman, the founder of the pro-Corbyn organisation Momentum.
Watson warned Lansman: "You have revealed your plan. If you succeed you will destroy the Labour Party as an electoral force. So you have to be stopped."
Lansman replied: "For 20 years the left was denied a voice. We will deny a voice to no-one. We face big challenges & we need our mass membership to win again."
The plot will alarm Labour moderates who have been hoping to drag the party back towards the centre ground when Corbyn eventually goes.
A political faction that is apparently planning to take control of the Labour party
Mr Watson said it was “a matter of great concern” that the Unite leadership appeared to be entering into a private agreement “to fund a political faction that is apparently planning to take control of the Labour party”.
The scandal erupted when the Observer released a recording of Lansman. He allegedly said: “We will force a debate on [it] this year and we really need to win that vote.
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“They very often take votes by a show of hands and therefore the more hands that go up, the more delegates you've got, does matter. And so… do take up all the delegate places if you can.”
Currently, a candidate must obtain the support of 15 per cent of Labour MPs and MEPs in order to stand - a threshold a new left wing contender is unlikely to be able to meet.
Watson said: “I warned last year of entryism and no one can now doubt that threat is a real one.
“For Unite to affiliate to Momentum it would require the approval of its executive committee. I hope Len McCluskey hasn't made promises without clearing them through the democratic structures of our union.”
McCluskey is in the midst of a re-election battled with Gerard Coyne for leadership of Unite.
Coyne said: “Now we know that Len McCluskey has made a secret promise that – so long as he is able to cling to his job - Unite will bankroll Momentum for the duration of Jeremy Corbyn's leadership and beyond.
“I have been warning for weeks that Len was trying to act as puppet master to Jeremy Corbyn. Now the evidence is clear for all to see.”