Tom Watson hits back at Corbyn in ‘Trotskyist entryist’ row

“We have had examples of people saying “I want to join the Labour Party because of Jeremy but of course if he ceases to be the leader I shall leave”.

Mr Corbyn received the backing of 285 constituency Labour Parties, including his own Islington North constituency, compared with 53 who nominated Mr Smith.

In a blogpost, the AWL’s Cathy Nugent added: “We want to help Corbyn remake the Labour Party as a party that fights for the interests of the working class”.

Ex-foreign secretary Dame Margaret Beckett, who has previously branded herself a “moron” for nominating Mr Corbyn for the Labour leadership past year, attacked those who have flooded to join the party in support of the veteran left-winger.

It comes after confirmation that his leadership contest with Mr Corbyn will continue with the exclusion of around 130,000 new members, many of whom are believed to support the incumbent leader. “They want to make Britain a fairer place”.

“This is not about persecuting some innocent little saint who happens to have become the leader of the Labour Party”, she said.

The Derby South MP added this is about presenting an alternative to present government, “which otherwise it will be set free to wreck people’s lives, as I fear that they will”. “I hope that when we get to the autumn and we have selected our leader that we will all unite again and support the new leader whoever that is, whether it is Owen Smith or Jeremy Corbyn”.

The pair’s relatively peaceful public relationship erupted into a war of words last week with allies of Corbyn accusing Watson of peddling “baseless conspiracy theories”.

More than 60 Labour MPs resigned from Labour front bench team to protest against Mr Corbyn’s leadership. And it appeared to be a rehash of a book (journalist) Michael Crick wrote 20 years ago about alleged entryism into the Labour Party at that stage.

Tom Watson says Labour could return to electing its shadow Cabinet in an attempt to “unify” the party. Despite 55 fewer CLPs making a nomination this time around, he won over 100 more party endorsements.

“Sorry Tom, it is nonsense – and I think he knows it’s nonsense”.

The outcome of the Jewish Labour Movement’s consultation with members could also cause concern for the leader’s office.

“I simply want to ensure that organisations like the Alliance for Workers Liberty, who have instructed all their members to join the Labour Party and target our youth sections for recruitment, are dealt with under our rules”. That is beyond dispute.