Jeremy Corbyn cannot be kept off future leadership ballot, Tony Blair admits
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Version 0 of 1. Tony Blair has reportedly warned dissenting Labour MPs that it would be impossible to keep Jeremy Corbyn out of a future leadership contest. The former Labour Prime Minister told rebellious MPs plotting a coup that even if they were initially successful in keeping Mr Corbyn out of the contest, the National Executive Committee would likely intervene to hand him a place on the ticket. According to the Times, Mr Blair made the comments at the end of 2015, adding Mr Corbyn’s popularity would mean he would be re-elected by the party members. The intervention emerged as the newspaper revealed that Labour frontbenchers are issuing threats to the leadership with resignations over the handling of antisemitism accusations in the party. Mr Blair’s comments come after Diane Abbott, a close ally of Mr Corbyn, branded the idea that the Labour Party has a problem with antisemtism as a “smear”. In an interview with the Guardian, Len McCluskey, General Secretary of Unite, said that some rebellious MPs had been “nothing short of treacherous” and set “stupid traps” for Mr Corbyn by claiming the party should win a certain number of seats. “We have had Michael Dugher saying Jeremy has 99 days to prove himself and suddenly 5 May becomes a litmus test on Corbyn’s ability to lead the party,” he said. “We have had Liz Kendall saying we should win 400 council seats. This is the woman who got 4.5% of the vote in the leadership election. We won’t be taking lectures off people like that who are interested in setting false traps. A poll carried out as the controversy unfolded gave the Conservatives an eight-point lead, and experts tip Labour to lose up to 150 council seats in England and face a hard night in elections to the Scottish and Welsh governments. However, Sadiq Khan, Labour’s candidate for London Mayor, is widely expected to win the contest in the capital. The elections across the UK will be the first nationwide test of Mr Corbyn’s leadership since winning a significant mandate from Labour Party members in September 2015. |