Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign team has issued an apology over the “unauthorised” briefing which claimed several senior centrist MPs had “abused” the party leader.
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The list of MPs has been released to the press in an attempt to brand Mr Corbyn’s leadership election rival, Owen Smith, as the “real disunity candidate” and argues Mr Smith’s supporters have been abusive.
The plans also potentially pit Mr Corbyn against two key allies in his shadow Cabinet – Ms Diane Abbott and Ms Emily Thornberry – who represent neighbouring seats and would have to be found new ones in the reduced number.
He said: “There was information put out there which is statements that colleagues made on the record and it’s all stuff that is out there on the public record”.
Deputy party leader Tom Watson had been picked out for calling the grassroots pro-Corbyn campaign Momentum a “rabble”.
Leading figures in the party were name-checked in the list over their alleged behaviour since Corbyn took over the leadership last September.
One Labour MP named on the list has told Sky News that he has formally complained to the party’s chief whip and chairman.
After the release was issued last night, Mr Coyle described himself as “fuming” and hit out at the “desperate, trial by troll, victim-culture claims”.
If confirmed when details are released overnight by the Boundary Commission for England, the changes could pit Mr Corbyn against two of his closest lieutenants to be selected to fight the two new seats. Just at a time when we were, I think, really rebuilding relationships, very, very well. “That isn’t unifying”, he said.
She said: “It is members of the Labour Party who are willing to take the advantages of a good education for themselves and pull up the ladder behind them for other people”. “The only person who has threatened to split the party is (shadow chancellor) John McDonnell”.
Smith said the deselection of sitting MPs would lead Labour into “even greater trouble than we are now”, before accusing Corbyn of not being serious about winning power.
The MP also criticised the Boundary Commision for using electoral roll data from December 2015 as the basis for the review, which does not include an estimated two million who registered in the run-up to European Union referendum in June.
Speaking at Bloomberg in the City of London, Mr Corbyn did not apologise but insisted: “I, as you know, never abuse anybody – tempting as it sometimes is”.
The Labour leader said: “I’m very confident of the constituency changes that are suggested”. Whatever happens in the result in the Labour leadership election next week, we have all got to come together.
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As PM, Mr Cameron had said there was a “hopelessness” about grammar schools because they only benefit the “select few” and called on the Tories to “rise above that attitude”.
