Chapman, who split from Corbyn in 1972, also said the Labour leader’s politics had not “changed much” since the decade of their divorce.
Advertisement
Speaking as polls closed in the Labour leadership election, he said: “We had won three elections on the trot and the Tories felt the need to dance to our tunes – from the minimum wage to tripling of overseas aid to gay rights to boosting the National Health Service”.
Mr Corbyn did not answer questions when members of the NEC finally emerged from the meeting at 8.30pm.
He said: “I am a supporter of Owen Smith, and would like him to win of course”.
Signalling that he does not want recriminations, he said: “As far as I am concerned, the slate will be wiped clean this weekend. Normally at this stage – if you think you are going to win, you say that people should respect the outcome and work together”.
Ian Murray said the move could act as an “olive branch” to win over MPs who have been critical of the veteran left-winger, who looks nearly certain to be re-elected as Labour leader on Saturday. “Anything else would be destructive self-indulgence”.
He and challenger Mr Smith have been on the campaign trail for weeks, with the result set to be announced on Saturday ahead of the party’s conference in Liverpool.
Gavin Callaghan, leader of Basildon Labour group, believes Mr Corbyn’s potential re-election as leader will be “a huge step backwards”.
In an open letter to members and supporters, Mr Smith acknowledged the contest had been “long and bruising” but argued “the truth is it had to happen”. “I understand that if found to be in breach of the Labour party policy on online and offline abuse, I will be subject to the rules and procedures of the Labour party”, the statement continues.
Corbyn’s team accused Smith and his allies of talking Labour down by arguing that the current leader was unelectable and said it was unacceptable to inflict that type of damage on the party.
“Our party is at a crossroads, and the choice we face is between renewing our party to pursue unity and power, or satisfying ourselves with ongoing division and opposition”, he said.
The new arrangements give the party full control of policy north of the border, and will see the party represented on the NEC by an MSP.
Mr McDonnell predicted that it would be “really tough” to get the 59.5 per cent of the vote achieved past year.
“And we’ve voted on the fact that we should be bringing back shadow cabinet elections to do so – this is something Jeremy Corbyn used to support, in fact, he was one of the biggest opponents of removing shadow cabinet elections”.
Advertisement
Ms Chapman also suggested he could be pressured into staying on as leader until a natural successor “that’s acceptable to Momentum and the left emerges”. As The Guardian reports, however, one of the lead culprits behind these smear attacks was mainstream media, who have made Jeremy Corbyn something of a target since the election timetable began in January. “And the case has to be made for that in Parliament”.
