Corbyn defends list of MPs accused of abuse
LABOUR leader Jeremy Corbyn has defended a list of shame which named Labour MPs accused of being abusive.
Birmingham MP Jess Phillips (Birmingham Yardley) and Black Country MPs Tom Watson (West Bromwich East) and Ian Austin (Dudley North) were all named on the list issued by Mr Corbyn’s campaign team.
Mr Watson has since received an apology.
Ms Phillips said she had received abuse as a result of being named, including an email warning “we are coming for you”.
Some of those organising Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign to win the ongoing Labour leadership election were reportedly upset that the list had been given to journalists.
But Mr Corbyn defended the list when he spoke at a Sky News televised hustings debate alongside rival leadership candidate Owen Smith.
Quizzed by Sky News host Faisal Islam, he said: “There was information put out there which is state- ments that colleagues made on the record and it’s all stuff that is out there on the public record.”
Leadership rival Owen Smith attacked the Labour leader over the “divisive” dossier.
And he said MPs on the list would see it as a signal that they should be deselected.
“That isn’t unifying,” he said. “That is deeply divisive and, frankly, it’s where you began the contest by talking about de-selection.”
Furious MPs said the move was “shabby” and “trial by troll”.
The original release highlighted the behaviour of a number of Labour MPs, including Jess Phillips for telling Mr Corbyn’s ally Diane Abbott to “f*** off ”.
Tom Watson, who was elected deputy by party members, had been picked out for calling the grassroots Corbyn campaign Momentum a “rabble”.
A spokesman for Mr Watson said: “Tom Watson has received an apology from (press aide) James Mills on behalf of the junior press officer in Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign team who released this list by mistake.”
Ian Austin was named as another troublemaker.