Purges and party splits: now the real civil war begins

“IT HAS been an amazing summer,” Jeremy Corbyn beamed, after skipping on to the stage to be confirmed as Labour leader.

“We have had good weather, of course,” said the keen gardener. He is growing an olive tree in order – he says – to be able to offer a real olive branch to those who want to oust him.

In this breezy manner, Mr Corbyn implored his opponents to come together under his leadership and rejoin his political “family” after months of division. “As far as I am concerned, let’s wipe that slate clean from today and get on with the work we have got to do,” he told a modest audience at Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool.

Yet, it was instantly clear that the next battle for control of the party had already begun.

Mr Corbyn’s critics signalled that they were not ready to back down, despite his second landslide victory.

The fate of Labour now looks bleaker than ever. A divided party seldom triumphs at a general election. While Mr Corbyn won 62 per cent of votes from the Left-wing membership, he is opposed by 80 per cent of his MPs.

Within minutes of Mr Corbyn’s reelection, a succession of senior Labour figures ruled out serving in his shadow cabinet. They included Chuka Umunna, Gloria De Piero and Heidi Alexander, all of whom have previously held shadow ministerial roles.

As Mr Corbyn’s victory over Owen Smith was announced, a restrained cheer went up from the crowd inside the conference arena. Some of Mr Smith’s team were close to tears. The mood among many party workers was grave. “It’s like a funeral where corpse is still twitching,” one said.

Some moderate MPs were bold enough to voice their opposition to Mr Corbyn in public. Chris Leslie, a former shadow chancellor, questioned whether the party could ever win under his leadership. “Unless we see a leader who can set out credible policies, stamp out abuse, take us ahead in the polls, persuade the public that he is a prime minister, that is going to be a really difficult challenge,” he said.

John Woodcock, one of Mr Corbyn’s staunchest critics, urged moderates to continue their fight: “For those Labour supporters who are disappointed by this result, my message is this: don’t give up, don’t walk away and don’t stop making the case for the kind of party that can change the lives of the many who need a Labour government.”

His resolve was echoed privately by ‘We have got to move beyond just taking what the front bench say as the only voice of policy in the party’ many more MPs and moderate figures. Yet there are signs that a new movement is afoot. A growing band of moderates are preparing to work together against Mr Corbyn to develop their own set of “sensible”, centre-Left policies. There is even talk of a wealthy donor waiting in the wings, who would fund a staff of 30 officials to work for the splinter group of MPs.

This shadowy structure – which is being described as “the resistance” – will seek to shape rival Labour policies to attract support from the centre ground. According to one key figure in the plot, such a split between moderates and Mr Corbyn’s front bench is the only way the two sides will be able to “coexist” in Parliament.

“Loyalty means ‘I must conform’. I don’t think anybody is going to take that,” the former Labour minister said. the “We have got to move beyond just taking what the front bench say as the only voice of policy in the party.”

Backbench committees will develop rival proposals on issues such as national security and the economy which could become official party policy, the source added. “Every MP has got to try and find their own way of coexisting within this party led by Corbyn. The alternative is too bleak.”

Another senior figure who quit the shadow cabinet in June warned that the war was not yet over. “The leadership is beyond doubt for the foreseeable future but the question is, does it end the war? That depends on whether or not Jeremy genuinely wants to bring the party back together.”

If Mr Corbyn is willing to let moderate MPs elect their own shadow ministers, he may have a far easier time.

Another critical test for the Labour leader will be how far he is ready to call off his hard-Left attack dogs. There are those in his inner circle in Westminster urging him to punish rebel MPs by throwing them out of the Commons.

And there is a far larger group of Momentum activists who want to deselect “Blairite” MPs in favour of socialist candidates for the next election.

For all the talk of making peace, Mr Corbyn refused to rule out sanctioning a purge of moderate MPs by his radical ground army. In a BBC interview yesterday he was asked repeatedly to tell Momentum activists not to try to unseat MPs. He simply refused.

“Would you rule out deselections?” the Labour leader was asked. “It’s not my decision on who is selected for a place or not,” came the reply.

To some ears, there was a hint of menace in Mr Corbyn’s olive branch offering to the audience in Liverpool.

“We are part of the same Labour family,” he told his jubilant supporters and downcast opponents alike. “And that’s how it is always going to be.”