Deselection of moderate Labour MPs by Corbyn-supporting activists is just party democracy at work, Emily Thornberry has claimed.
The shadow foreign secretary claimed MPs should be thankful for a flood of young and idealistic activists into Labour.
Ms Thornberry said Labour had a ‘massive membership’ following a surge of new supporters backing leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Her intervention comes amid continued claims from moderate councillors they are being forced out of the party ahead of May’s local elections – with fears MPs who disagree with Corbyn could be next.
Emily Thornberry (file) has denied there is an ‘open season’ on moderate Labour politicians and de-selections by hard-left activists is simply democracy at work.
Ms Thornberry said Labour had a ‘massive membership’ following a surge of new supporters backing leader Jeremy Corbyn (pictured last week selling coffee to raise awareness of homelessness)
Ms Thornberry told last night’s BBC Radio 4 Westminster Hour: ‘In the end we are a democratic party.
‘People that I have met from Momentum are largely young, they are enthusiastic, they are hard working, they are idealistic – they are the lifeblood of our party, that’s what our party ought to be about.
‘People shouldn’t feel threatened by youngsters becoming enthusiastic and wanting to be involved in the local party.
‘Of course, anyone who is selected to be a local candidate whether it’s MP or councillor, they need to be accountable to their local membership.
‘If there are disagreements it’s always been this way and there’s always been an amount of churn.
‘It’s not open season, it’s democracy within the Labour Party. This is the week when we’ve had Nadine Dorries going on the media and saying people who vote with their consciences should be de-selected.’
Tory Brexiteer Ms Dorries (file) demanded de-selection of 11 Tory rebels who joined forces with Labour and the SNP last week to defeat the Government
Tory Brexiteer Ms Dorries demanded de-selection of 11 Tory rebels who joined forces with Labour and the SNP last week to defeat the Government.
She insisted the situation was different from the occasions she had rebelled against the whip because there was a ‘Marxist’ threatening to enter No 10.
Momentum is asking potential Labour Parliamentary candidates to swear allegiance to Mr Corbyn if they want their backing.
The 13-point contract, which has been branded ‘Stalinist’ by critics, asks would-be Labour MPs to back the Labour leader’s objectives and party manifesto to win the group’s support.