Unions plot to replace Corbyn
indulging in the outright hostility that only entrenched support for the leader among activists during the last parliament. Leading moderate figures including former leader Ed Miliband have been lined up to speak at the gathering of the Corbynite pressure group Momentum at the Labour Party conference, also in Brighton, later this month. They believe they may have been mistaken in previously treating Momentum as a reincarnation of the 1980s Trotskyist faction the Militant Tendency.
The hope is that some of the party’s younger activists can eventually be lured away from the hardLeft to more mainstream Labour politics. Moderates expect Mr Corbyn’s leadership deficiencies, which were hidden by his enthusiastic campaigning in the run-up to the election, to be exposed again in the future to raise renewed doubts about his long-term position.
Mr Corbyn’s triumphant arrival at the TUC will come hours after an expected revolt at Westminster on Monday night with Labour Eurosceptics including senior backbenchers Kate Hoey and Graham Stringer set to defy the party whip by backing the Government’s Brexit legislation. The Commons division will be the first serious test of the leader’s authority since the election. Moderates believe their success in forcing the leadership into adopting a more pro-Brussels position is a sign that the Corbynite grip on their party may be beginning to loosen.
The Labour leader should make the most of his trip to the seaside. Like the rides at the funfair on Brighton pier, his popularity within his party is likely to be a thrilling experience that is over all too soon.