Labour rivals prepare for leadership showdown
Watson and Mcdonnell gear up for battle as party’s anti-semitism crisis threatens to topple Corbyn
TOM WATSON is preparing for a headto-head battle with John Mcdonnell over who should succeed Jeremy Corbyn after the Labour leader’s position was threatened by an inquiry into antisemitism.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission last week announced an inquiry into the party’s handling of antisemitism cases amid claims it may have broken equalities law. Labour MPS critical of Mr Corbyn believe the EHRC investigation will result in “heads rolling” within the party and could potentially force him to stand down.
Mr Watson, the deputy Labour leader who recently said he sometimes no longer recognised the party under Mr Corbyn, is reportedly readying for a showdown with the shadow chancellor over the top job.
Mr Mcdonnell is a long time ally of the Labour leader and is viewed by many in the party as the candidate most likely to continue with Mr Corbyn’s socialist blueprint for the country.
Mr Watson would likely seek to return the party to the political centre ground, and his decision to start a new “social democratic” grouping within the parliamentary Labour Party is controversial.
Supporters of Mr Corbyn believe Mr Watson is trying to create a “party within a party” and could use it as a power base in a leadership contest.
A battle between Mr Watson and Mr Mcdonnell would pitch two of the party’s biggest beasts against each other.
A source close to Mr Watson told The Mail on Sunday: “Jeremy’s essentially finished. It is only a matter of time before either he realises it or it is made clear that, for the sake of the party, he must step aside.”
Mr Watson urged Mr Corbyn to change the direction of the party to avoid more Labour MPS quitting after eight walked away to form The Independent Group. Senior party colleagues said Mr Mcdonnell was “serious about getting a genuine hard-left Labour Party into power” and it was “incredibly annoying to him that we keep mucking it up with unnecessary rows about antisemitism”.
Mr Watson and Mr Mcdonnell dismissed the claims.
It came amid reports two senior advisers to Mr Corbyn had intervened in March last year to lift the suspension of a Labour Party activist accused of antisemitism. Leaked emails reported by The Sunday Times suggested Seumas Milne, Mr Corbyn’s director of strategy and communications, told officials to reinstate an activist who had been suspended
‘Jeremy is finished. It’s only a matter of time before he realises, or it’s made clear to him, that he must step aside’
for being a member of a Facebook group that contained messages of Holocaust denial. Andrew Murray, another aide to Mr Corbyn, is also alleged to have intervened in the case, which saw the activist suspended and then reinstated.
It is understood that the two aides had given a view on the case but had not called for any specific action.
A Labour source said concerns were raised about the case because the “Jewish peace activist” appeared to have been unfairly targeted. A Labour Party spokesman said: “This is a malicious, selective briefing from a disgruntled former employee, who asked individuals in the leader’s office for help in clearing a backlog of cases, which was complied with in good faith. Since becoming general secretary, Jennie Formby has ended this practice and made the procedures for dealing with complaints about antisemitism more robust. Staff who work on disciplinary matters lead on investigations and recommendations on individual cases.”