Leading Labour figures at Tom Watson’s ‘party’ launch

THE scale of Labour’s deepening split was laid bare last night as 160 MPS and peers and shadow ministers attended the launch of a new moderate “party within a party” led by Tom Watson.

Grandees who supported Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and waged war during the New Labour years set aside their differences as they attended the meeting organised by Mr Watson, the party’s deputy leader.

Leading Blairites including Lord Mandelson, Lord Blunkett and Pat Mcfadden attended alongside Brownites such as Mr Watson, Yvette Cooper and Lord Wood. Lord Mandelson said that it was time for “Blairites and Brownites to work together to save the party”. Lord Kinnock, the former Labour leader, and John Prescott, the former deputy prime minister, also attended. Lord Kinnock made a plea for previously warring factions to “come together” as he drew upon his own experience of fighting the hard-left.

A dozen shadow ministers were present, including Andy Mcdonald, Gloria De Piero, Jim Mcmahon and Justine Madders. A former Cabinet minister who attended the meeting told Huffington Post: “This is the only chance left for the party, it has been seized and asset stripped by the Left.”

Mr Watson said: “I really fear that unless we restore pluralism and tolerance to this party it will be irreparably damaged and we will see a schism bigger than any we have experienced in our long history.”