Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has branded the “plotters” trying to oust Jeremy Corbyn from the Labour leadership as “f****** useless”.
As Labour teetered on the brink of all-out civil war, Mr McDonnell won loud cheers at a pro-Corbyn fundraising event as he denounced those seeking to force a change at the top of the party.
“They have been plotting and conniving. The only good thing about it, as plotters they’re f****** useless,” Mr McDonnell said to loud cheers.
The shadow chancellor insisted he was not referring to leadership challenger Angela Eagle as “f****** useless”, and the comment was a joke which his late mother would “wash his mouth out with soap” for if she was still alive.
“It was a stand-up comedy event. It was a joke. It was taken in a light-hearted way,” Mr McDonnell told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
The shadow chancellor insisted Mr Corbyn had not made a big fuss over “death threat after death threat” that he had received since becoming leader.
Mr McDonnell insisted he was referring to a small, hard-core group in the party who had never accepted Mr Corbyn’s leadership when he made the “f****** useless” remarks.
Anti-Corbyn MPs have accused the shadow chancellor of moving to block a “peace deal” for an orderly transition of power by talking Mr Corbyn out of resigning in the wake of the overwhelming majority of the parliamentary party voting no confidence in his leadership.
Mr Corbyn has dismissed the claims, insisting he is “going nowhere” and intends to honour the mandate given to him by 59.5% of party members in last September’s leadership election.
Mr McDonnell’s incendiary comments came as veteran former minister Dame Margaret Hodge accused Mr Corbyn and his supporters of engaging in “dirty politics” as the party faced a bitter leadership battle set to eat up its energy over the next two months.
The Labour leader addressed a crowd of around a thousand supporters at the Keep Corbyn fundraising rally after the party’s ruling National Executive Committee confirmed his name would automatically be on the ballot paper after former shadow business secretary Ms Eagle challenged him for the top job.
