Watson is taken out of the picture at shadow cabinet
TOM WATSON was sidelined from Labour’s shadow cabinet yesterday amid speculation that the deputy leader is preparing to launch a leadership challenge against Jeremy Corbyn.
It follows days of pressure on the Labour leader to resign and came as the party’s MPs returned a vote of no confidence in him by a margin of more than 80 per cent.
Mr Watson appeared in TV footage of the meeting sitting next to Mr Corbyn but later in the same film he was nowhere to be seen.
In the meeting, described as “a car crash” and broadcast live on Sky News, Jeremy Corbyn called for TV cameras to stop filming despite having invited them into the room in an apparent publicity stunt thought to have been suggested by his director of communications Seumas Milne.
He was also caught on microphone complaining about the presence of the TV crew and warning that it seemed like “a bad idea” to have the meeting recorded.
At the start of the discussion Mr Corbyn can be heard whispering: “This seems a bad idea” before adding to Mr Milne: “Seumas, I’m not sure this is a good idea either”.
His remarks prompted Steve Rotherham, a Labour MP and one of Mr Corbyn’s closest aides, to claim he warned it was a bad idea before the meeting began.
The footage was described by a former Labour shadow cabinet member as “farcical”.
After Sky News resumed recording the meeting Mr Watson, who had been seated on the leader’s left at the begin- ning of the session, was no longer visible in the room. Mr Watson is understood to have left the meeting early, according to aides, who added that he sometimes leaves before the end of the session because the discussions “go on for hours”.
The deputy leader looked tired and drawn in the TV footage. A source said “it has been a hard few days” for Mr Watson. He has been identified as a possible challenger to Mr Corbyn’s leadership following a vote of no confidence which won the support of 81 per cent of the MPs who voted.
It came as Yvette Cooper, the former shadow home secretary, called for Mr Corbyn to step down immediately.
Ms Cooper, who is understood to be
‘I am very concerned that Jeremy Corbyn has no plan to reunite the Labour movement’
considering a leadership bid herself, said: “At a time when the world has changed, when an election is looming, I am very concerned that Jeremy Corbyn has no plan to reunite the Labour movement, no plan to respond to the deep and serious issues the referendum has thrown up, and no plan for a looming general election.”
She is one of a small group of Labour MPs tipped to be considering running against Mr Corbyn.
Others include Angela Eagle, thought to be the favourite, Mr Watson and Lisa Nandy. Dan Jarvis, Tristram Hunt and Chuka Umunna are expected to stand aside and unite behind one candidate in order to challenge Mr Corbyn, it is understood.