Labour grandee Margaret Beckett today branded Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters a personal “fan club” that did not care if the Labour Party splits.
In an outspoken attack, she said another victory for Mr Corbyn risked repeating the Margaret Thatcher years of “unfettered power” for the Conservatives.
Her claims came after party officials independent of Mr Corbyn’s leadership moved to bar 130,000 members who had joined Labour within the last six months from voting in the leadership contest.
Deputy leader Tom Watson has claimed that “Trotsky entryists” were attempting a far-Left takeover and Dame Margaret said some of Mr Corbyn’s backers were not genuine Labour supporters. “We have had examples of people saying, ‘I want to join the Labour Party because of Jeremy, but of course if he ceases to be the leader I shall leave’. Those are not members of the Labour Party, those are members of a fan club.”
Dame Margaret, a former foreign secretary who has also been acting leader, was one of the 35 Labour MPs who nominated Mr Corbyn for the leadership last year, a decision she admitted made her feel like a “moron”.
She told BBC Radio 4 that “some of the people around Jeremy” had made clear that they were “perfectly happy” for the party to split in half.
Mr Corbyn is tonight staging an open-air rally for black and minority ethnic supporters in north London, with Diane Abbott among the speakers. She said: “Jeremy has a great record on issues like immigration, anti-racism and police brutality.”
His rival Owen Smith accused the Government of having a “secret plan to privatise the NHS” in a speech in Salford. He was forced to defend remarks made when he worked for drugs company Pfizer that critics claim showed support for privatisation.
He said: “Pfizer sells medicines to the NHS, not services, and I’m talking about clinical services being provided by the NHS.”
Mr Smith said he had not come into contact with “Trotsky entryists” and added: “I think most people have joined the Labour Party for really good reasons, the same reasons I joined. They want to make Britain a fairer place.”
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