Is it the Kinnock & Paddy Party?
150 Labour MPs plotting breakaway if Jeremy Corbyn clings on to power
MORE than 150 Labour MPs are plotting to form a breakaway party codenamed ‘Continuity Labour’ if Jeremy Corbyn wins the leadership battle – with Stephen Kinnock tipped to head it. The Mail on Sunday understands a group of leading anti-Corbyn MPs are poised to make approaches to Labour’s top 50 donors to fund the new party if the Labour leader fends off challenges from Angela Eagle and Owen Smith. The plot emerged as this newspaper also established that Mr Kinnock, the son of former Labour leader Neil Kinnock, has held secret talks with former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown about ‘safeguarding the interests of our country’. Lord Ashdown denies that the discussions included the formation of a new centre-ground party. Mr Corbyn was plunged into the leadership contest after losing a confidence vote among Labour MPs by 172 votes to 40, followed by dozens of resignations from his frontbench team. Ms Eagle, the former Shadow First Secretary of State, and Mr Smith, the former Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, have both since announced leadership bids. With Mr Corbyn still commanding a strong following among ordinary party members, most moderate MPs accept the party will split if he hangs on to the leadership in September’s vote. A senior source said: ‘If Corbyn wins, the party is finished in its current form. There are at least 150 MPs who would break away, and many are already discreetly sounding out donors about what they are calling “Continuity Labour”. Stephen is central to the plans. The plotters have calculated that they could start a new party, debt-free, while leaving Corbyn’s rump mired in financial problems.’
Last night, Labour’s largest individual donor, John Mills, who has given more than £1.6million to the party, said: ‘I am aware of these sorts of discussions, but I am very reluctant to get involved in the plots and schemes. Splitting the party would be a disaster under the first-past-the-post electoral system because it would make it harder to win.’
Mr Kinnock, a leading moderate, met Mr Ashdown recently after the former Lib Dem leader called for a new ‘progressive platform’ to unite politicians from different parties who share the same centrist beliefs.
Mr Kinnock, referring to his discussions with Mr Ashdown, said: ‘Electoral reform and safeguarding the interests of our country are common purposes among people in all parties, and I am happy to be part of that.’
He added: ‘There can be no question of any split in the Labour Party. Its values and purpose are in my blood, and I am striving to ensure that we have a leader who is a persuader, not just a protester. My total focus is on doing all I can to help to save the Labour Party as a credible, appealing national force.’
Mr Ashdown said: ‘Any suggestion that we discussed political alliances or the creation of new parties is categorically wrong.’
In another development yesterday, Ms Eagle warned that Labour risked becoming the ‘new nasty party’, because of the ‘abuse, misogyny, homophobia and anti-Semitism’ affecting it.
Labour’s divisions will be highlighted tomorrow when MPs vote on whether to renew the Trident nuclear deterrent. More than 140 of Labour’s 230 MPs are expected to vote in favour of the plan, despite Mr Corbyn’s longstanding opposition to the weapons system.
‘Stephen is central to the plotters’ plans’