Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry faces losing her post in a frontbench reshuffle as ‘punishment’ for insisting Labour back a second referendum after the party’s dismal European election results
- Corbyn allies are ‘very angry’ at Miss Thornberry for vocally supporting new vote
- Was snubbed by being replaced as Mr Corbyn’s replacement at PMQs last week
- Deputy leader Tom Watson could also be under threat because of his EU stance
Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry faces losing her post in a frontbench reshuffle as ‘punishment’ for insisting Labour must back a second EU referendum, according to several senior figures.
Deputy leader Tom Watson could also be under threat as some union leaders close to Mr Corbyn’s office push for a new contest in an effort to replace him as leader because of his backing for another Brexit vote.
Sources in Mr Corbyn’s office said yesterday there were ‘all sorts of mischievous rumours’ being circulated but did not rule out changes to the frontbench team.
Senior Labour sources said Jeremy Corbyn’s allies were ‘very angry’ at Miss Thornberry over her EU stance. She is seen at an anti-Trump protest in London on June 4
‘They are very angry with Emily and are out to get Tom,’ a shadow cabinet source told the Observer.
Another senior source said there had been petitions going round local parties calling for a second deputy leadership contest, which would need the backing of 50 MPs .
Allies of Mr Corbyn are said to be furious after Miss Thornberry blamed Labour’s poor showing in the European elections on its lack of clear support for a second referendum.
She was snubbed last week as a replacement for Mr Corbyn at Prime Minister’s Questions after shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey was asked to take the role instead.
Sources in Mr Corbyn’s office said yesterday there were ‘all sorts of mischievous rumours’ being circulated but did not rule out changes to the frontbench team. Pictured: Miss Thornberry, Mr Corbyn and his wife, Laura Alvarez, in Bayeux on June 6
MailOnline has contacted Labour for comment.
Miss Thornberry sparked anger last week after she said Donald Trump did not ‘deserve the honour’ of a state visit because he was a ‘sexual predator’ and a ‘racist’ who had also ‘grabbed women and boasted about it’.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday: ‘A state visit is an honour and we don’t think this president deserves an honour.
‘The truth is he has tried to close borders with Muslim-majority countries, he is caging small Mexican children, he has grabbed women and boasted about it.
‘He is a sexual predator, he is a racist and it’s right to say that – we need to think about when is it our country got so scared?’
Responding to her remarks, Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: ‘It’s a bit rich given Labour’s track record on racism and its failure to deal with sexual predators in its own party.’
He added: ‘The idea of the whole Labour frontbench ever in government fills me with horror and should fill the British people with horror.
‘Corbyn is a man who calls the IRA, Hamas and Hezbollah his friends but refuses to have dinner with the democratically elected leader of the free world.’
Deputy leader Tom Watson (left) is also said to be under threat. Pictured right: Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey (right) standing in for Mr Corbyn at PMQs
The party’s anti-Semitism scandal blew up again in recent days after new Peterborough MP Lisa Forbes faced controversy over a Facebook post she “liked” which said Theresa May has a “Zionist slave masters agenda”.
She also commented under a post whose author claimed that Islamic extremists were the creation of the CIA and Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency.
Ms Forbes, who won a by-election after the suspension of Fiona Onasanya, subsequently apologised for “not calling out these posts” and promised to challenge anti-Semitism in future.