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Former Blair advisor says NEC decision to allow Corbyn on ballot 'has killed the Labour party' | Former Blair advisor says NEC decision to allow Corbyn on ballot 'has killed the Labour party' |
(35 minutes later) | |
A former special advisor to Tony Blair says a decision to allow Jeremy Corbyn the automatic right to defend his leadership will be the death of the Labour party. | A former special advisor to Tony Blair says a decision to allow Jeremy Corbyn the automatic right to defend his leadership will be the death of the Labour party. |
John McTernan is a long-time critic of Mr Corbyn and said if the leader "had any shame" he would have walked away some time ago. | John McTernan is a long-time critic of Mr Corbyn and said if the leader "had any shame" he would have walked away some time ago. |
He told BBC News in the wake of the NEC's secret ballot decision: "Today was the day the Labour party was stabbed in the heart and killed by the Labour National Executive Committee. | |
"Jeremy Corbyn may have won this vote, but he has destroyed the Labour party," he said. | "Jeremy Corbyn may have won this vote, but he has destroyed the Labour party," he said. |
"This is the end of the Labour party, nothing more or less than that, and it is a terribly sad day for anybody who believes in opposition to the Tories, anybody who believes in the history of the Labour party and all it has achieved." | |
The NEC ruled by a reported majority of four that an incumbent leader has the automatic right to stand in a leadership ballot, crushing the hopes of the majority of the party's MPs that they could have a leadership election without Mr Corbyn on the ballot. | |
Labour appoints its leader by a vote of its members, many of whom - among the grassroots at least - are passionate supporters of the Islington MP. | |
But if the NEC ruling had gone against him, Mr Corbyn would almost certainly have failed to win the 51 nominations normally required to make it onto the ballot. | |
Speaking after the decision was announced, Mr Corbyn said he was "delighted" and sounded a defiant tone. | |
As his supporters cheered, he told reporters: "I'm sure Labour MPs will understand that the party has to come together in order to present to the British people the options of a different and better way of doing things." | |
Angela Eagle, the former shadow business secretary who has emerged as the leading challenger to Mr Corbyn, issued a brief statement saying she was "determined" to beat him. | |
She said: "I'm glad Labour's NEC has come to a decision. I welcome the contest ahead. And I am determined to win it." | |
When the news broke, crowds gathered outside a fundraiser to support Mr Corbyn cheered and clapped in jubilation. | |
Around a thousand people attended the Keep Corbyn event in Kentish Town, north London, on Tuesday evening while a crunch meeting of the party's ruling committee was under way. | |
Adam Booth, 30, a member of the Socialist Appeal, who attended the fundraiser said he was "delighted". | |
"It's the only democratic decision that could have really succeeded." |
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