Dozen Labour MPs in secret plot to oust Corbyn ‘hatch plans at £144-a-night farmhouse’

Moderate Labour MPs have been holding secret meetings in a luxury farmhouse to plot a takeover of the party, it was claimed last night.

Around 12 MPs are said to have met at the Sussex holiday estate at least twice to plan the fightback.

The group was said to have included former leadership candidate Liz Kendall and Stephen Kinnock, the former party leader’s son.

The £144 for one night accommodation on a 12-acre site is set within wonderful gardens and accommodation includes a stunning Grade II Listed Sussex farmhouse – Fair Oak Farm – built around 1600.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (pictured) is reportedly facing a plot from moderate MPs 

The most recent meeting was in May, it was claimed. Former shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna and and independent MP John Woodcock are also said to have attended. 

A source at the meetings told the Express: ‘We are getting together regularly to discuss how to take back control of the party.

‘At some point the Corbyn leadership is going to fail and collapse, we only need to see what is happening with the anti-Semitism problem, and we need to be ready to step in, win the leadership rebuild the party as a credible force and repair the damage that has been done.’

Plotters were said to have travelled to the village of Stonegate from Waterloo East before taking a taxi to the historic farm site.  

Among the plans reportedly discussed were proposals for a new party and a scheme to block Mr Corbyn from becoming PM even if he won an election. 

One person who attended apparently said that some pro-Remain Conservative and Lib Dem MPs would be interested in joining a centrist movement.  

Other meetings are said to have taken place elsewhere.

The Fair Oak Farm in Sussex where Labour MPs are reported to have met to discuss a plot 

The Fair Oak Farm in Sussex where Labour MPs are reported to have met to discuss a plot 

MPs are said to have met at the Sussex holiday estate Fair Oak (pictured) to make plans 

MPs are said to have met at the Sussex holiday estate Fair Oak (pictured) to make plans 

Mr Kinnock said he did not recall the meeting, saying that if they were taking place he had ‘yet to receive an invitation’. 

Another reported attendee, Chris Leslie, said the meetings were about policy development and said he met with colleagues ‘all the time’, saying it was good to get out of Westminster.  

He said: ‘I can’t recall Jeremy Corbyn featuring in the discussion at all.’ 

Mr Corbyn has come under fire in the last week for his failed efforts to deal with Labour’s deepening anti-Semitism crisis. 

Last night Labour dropped its investigation into MP Margaret Hodge’s alleged bust-up with Mr Corbyn in the House of Commons. 

The Barking MP was accused of calling the party leader a ‘f****** anti-Semite’ in a House of Commons debate but the action against her has now been abandoned.

Ms Hodge, who lost family members in the Holocaust, said she had not apologised and denied that she had ‘expressed her regret’ to Labour’s chief whip as the party had claimed.

General secretary Jennie Formby wrote to Dame Margaret ending the inquiry into alleged abusive behaviour and informing her that no further action will be taken. 

The £144 for one night accommodation in Sussex where Labour moderates have met 

The £144 for one night accommodation in Sussex where Labour moderates have met 

Tom Watson (pictured in March) was the target of an unprecedented social media campaign calling for him to quit and waged by furious Corbynistas 

Tom Watson (pictured in March) was the target of an unprecedented social media campaign calling for him to quit and waged by furious Corbynistas 

In a letter from the MP’s lawyers Mishcon de Reya, posted on social media by Dame Margaret, they accused Ms Formby of misrepresenting her position in a ‘cynical attempt to save face in your necessary climbdown’. 

Meanwhile deputy leader Tom Watson was hit by a massive social media campaign calling for him to quit after he demanded tougher action on anti-Semitism.

Left-wing activists mounted a massive social media campaign against him – posting nearly 50,000 tweets calling for him to go and making the hashtag ‘ResignWatson’ trend on Twitter.

Key allies of Mr Corbyn – including ex Labour MP George Galloway and activist Arron Bastani – were among those who led the onslaught.

But Labour MPs including Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi and Wes Streeting, and former Labour minister David Miliband rallied to his defence on Twitter. 

The attacks came after Mr Watson demanded tougher action against anti-Semitism in an interview with The Observer.

He spoke out after the party was rocked by revelations that Peter Willsman – a Labour member and strong ally of Mr Corbyn – was secretly taped ranting that ‘Jewish Trump fanatics’ invented the anti-Semitism.

In an angry diatribe, made at a meeting of Labour’s ruling executive committee and secretly recorded, Mr Willsman said said he was ‘amazed’ there was evidence party members hated Jews. 



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