Labour is edging towards a bitter split as up to a hundred MPs face the threat of a deselection battle.
Plans for a breakaway group have been accelerated by fears of a mass wave of challenges to sitting MPs.
Moderates believe party grandees including Ed Miliband, Harriet Harman, Yvette Cooper and Dame Margaret Beckett will all face attempts to oust them, along with Labour frontbenchers Diane Abbott and Dan Carden.
It is anticipated that around a quarter of the 100 MPs expected to be subject to a contest will lose, removing them as Labour candidates for the next election.
Moderates believe party grandees including Ed Miliband (left), Harriet Harman, Yvette Cooper (right) and Dame Margaret Beckett will all face attempts to oust them
Those seen as most at risk include Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker and Angela Smith, who are all thought to be considering quitting the party as part of an imminent split.
Others believed to have little chance of surviving deselection challenges include former party leadership candidates Mary Creagh and Angela Eagle, Commons Brexit committee chairman Hilary Benn, leading Brexiteer Kate Hoey, and former international development secretary Kate Osamor.
The deselection process does not usually happen until much nearer the next election, but Labour’s general secretary Jennie Formby has already started discussions on setting the timetable – raising fears it could start within months.
Many of those facing the prospect of deselection have warned they will stand as independents if they are removed as Labour candidates.
Those seen as most at risk include Luciana Berger (pictured), Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker and Angela Smith, who are all thought to be considering quitting the party as part of an imminent split
Moderates believe party grandees including Dame Margaret Beckett (left) and Harriet Harman (right) will all face attempts to oust them
One of those involved in discussions about a breakaway group has told colleagues that whilst they have reservations about whether it will be a success, they are determined not to simply walk away as they want to ‘burn the house down’ on their way out.
John McDonnell yesterday warned Labour MPs thinking of leaving that they could keep it out of a power for a decade if they take away votes in marginal seats.
The shadow chancellor told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: ‘It would be like the 1980s. My constituency in Hayes and Harlington, we had a Labour MP join the SDP and we lost the seat to the Conservatives. And it basically installed Mrs Thatcher in power for that decade.’
Mr McDonnell also defended an online ‘loyalty pledge’ that has seen Labour MPs facing pressure to back a commitment to ‘work for the achievement of a Labour led Government’ under whatever leadership.
A number of Labour MPs including Mr McDonnell, shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey and shadow education secretary Angela Rayner tweeted their support for the pledge.
Mr McDonnell said people wanted ‘reassurance’ that their MPs are ‘Labour through and through’, and stressed that he does not see ‘any need’ for anyone to split from the party.
But Unite general secretary Len McCluskey took a different stance.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, he told those thinking about quitting the party: ‘If you are going to leave, for God’s sake get on with it and stop pestering us through the media and through the TV, and let the rest of us fight for a better Britain or stay and help us.’
Dame Margaret told Sky News’ Ridge on Sunday it would be ‘a mistake’ for the MPs to go.
Labour voted in September for a shake-up of the rules on how local party members can deselect sitting MPs. Previoulsy, Labour MPs faced a reselection contest if 50 per cent of a constituency’s local branches and affiliated unions voted for it in a ‘trigger ballot’.
But delegates at the party’s conference in Liverpool backed a proposal to cut this threshold to 33 per cent.
John McDonnell (pictured) yesterday warned Labour MPs thinking of leaving that they could keep it out of a power for a decade if they take away votes in marginal seats
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https://textbacklinkexchanges.com/labour-party-edges-towards-split-as-up-to-100-moderate-mps/
News Photo Labour party edges towards split as up to 100 moderate MPs
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