A list grouping MPs under categories ranging from “core” to “hostile” was leaked to The Times.
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Corbyn has struggled to gain the loyalty of Labour MPs, apparently prompting someone close to his office to produce a list of which of the party’s politicians they can rely on. One moderate MP mutters: ‘Straight back to the brutal Brownite survival operation, no matter how much damage it does to the party.’ Indeed, the combination of a Brownite operation and the Corbynite habit of sparking rows on fringe-left issues to divide the party will have a potent effect on Labour.
Some backbenchers suspect the hand of Damian McBride, the combative spin doctor to Gordon Brown who recently joined the team of shadow defence minister Emily Thornberry, may be behind the release of the list, which they believe is aimed at demonstrating that Corbyn would have the support of enough MPs to make it on to the ballot paper if a leadership challenge emerged.
Former minister Michael Meacher, who died last October, is on the list with the letters RIP beside his name.
A spokesman for Mr Corbyn said the list did not reflect his views.
Among the “core group negative” are senior figures such as Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn, Shadow Education Secretary Lucy Powell, Shadow Culture Secretary Maria Eagle and Labour’s European Union referendum chief Alan Johnson.
17 MPs are believed to be missing from the list.
London mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan and the Chief Whip Rosie Winterton have both been marked down among the 36 listed as “hostile”.
Some MPs privately joked that they felt like suing because they were wrongly described as “negative” or “neutral” rather than “hostile”. Among the other names are shadow chancellor John McDonnell, Clive Lewis, shadow energy minister and Diane Abbott, shadow global development secretary.
She told Radio 4’s World at One it had “given David Cameron a shield” at Prime Minister’s Questions – during which Mr Corbyn had tried to pin the PM down on Iain Duncan Smith’s resignation and the government’s U-turn on disability benefit cuts. 17 people are missing from the list.
Neutral but not hostile: Andy Burnham, Angela Eagle, Ann Clwyd, Chris Bryant, Kate Hoey.
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Alex Cunningham, MP for Stockton North, is listed in the “core plus” group, the second most loyal category.
