JEREMY Corbyn is the victim of a “political lynching”, the boss of Labour’s biggest trade union backer has claimed, as allies of the party leader launched a fresh fightback against ongoing attempts to oust him.
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said it was “outrageous” that grandees were “being dragged out to be part of this unedifying coup” after former Labour leader Neil Kinnock made a dramatic plea for Corbyn to quit.
Kinnock said support for Corbyn was seeping away in the country and there was “no basis” on which he could stay in post, days after Labour MPs at Westminster overwhelmingly passed a motion of no confidence in the party leader.
Corbyn has repeatedly said those wanting to replace him would have to force a leadership contest in which he would be a candidate in a one-person, one-vote ballot of party members and supporters,who elected him to the post last year.
He has refused to quit despite a spate of resignations from his shadow cabinet, amid claims the party leadership failed to properly campaign against Brexit and is on course for a heavy General Election defeat.
However, Lord Kinnock sought to up the stakes by stating that party rules mean Corbyn cannot continue as Labour leader and would need to secure backing from more than 50 MPs if he wanted to be a candidate in any leadership election.
The Labour peer, who led the party to election defeats in 1987 and 1992, said there had been a “significant shift away from Jeremy” in recent days and that members had “deep residual doubts”.
Speaking on on BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show, Lord Kinnock said a provision in chapter four of the party’s rules meant “any nomination must be supported by 20 per cent” of MPs and MEPs, which means there is “no basis on which Jeremy really could or should stay”.
However, Unite boss McCluskey said the attempt to overthrow the leadership had failed and insisted the unions could “broker a peace” deal – a move backed by shadow chancellor John McDonnell.
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McCluskey, also speaking to Marr, said: “This has been a political lynching of a decent man, undermined, humiliated, attacked, in order to push him out.
“And here’s the truth. It’s failed. The coup has failed. Jeremy Corbyn is made of stronger stuff, he is a man of steel and he has made it clear that he will not stand down.”
Corbyn yesterday insisted he was “ready to reach out” to his his critics in the party but restated his warning he would stand for re-election if they tried to oust him.
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Tony Blair refused to be drawn on whether the leader should step down but said the opposition needed “credibility”.
Blair, in an interview for Murnaghan on Sky News, said: “I have resolutely refused to intervene in this debate about whether Jeremy Corbyn should stay or go.”
He added: “What I will say is that for a democracy to function you have got to have an opposition with a minimum level of credibility to challenge government and to hold it to account.”
However, shadow chancellor McDonnell has refused to rule out calling for Blair to be tried for war crimes over Iraq.
McDonnell did not disagree with the suggestion that he and Corbyn were going to “crucify” the former leader for “being a war criminal” when the Chilcot report comes out on Wednesday.
A number of MPs are expected to try to use an ancient law to try to impeach Blair once the findings of the long-awaited inquiry into the Iraq War are published.
“I have never said that – what I have said all the way through in the last few weeks is we’ve got to wait for Chilcot,” he told Sky News.
When asked if he thought Blair might have questions to answer in the international court, he said: “I want to see the Chilcot report, nobody can comment on this until we see the report itself and I’m hoping that the report will be thorough, and for me the importance is not Tony Blair or any individuals – it’s about the processes so we never ever get into this tragic, tragic mess again with such loss of life.”
Former First Minister Alex Salmond has said there “has to be a judicial or political reckoning” for Blair’s role in the Iraq conflict and claims that the attempt by Labour MPs to oust Corbyn was to prevent him calling for the former PM’s head in the wake of Chilcot.
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