After a motion of no confidence in Jeremy Corbyn passed at 172 votes to 40, a Labour leadership election looks on the cards. With Corbyn vowing to stand again, his opponents hope that — post-Brexit — a high enough proportion of the membership will choose to oust him.
Yet in a sign that a lot of the grassroots support remains for Corbyn, the trade unions are preparing to stand by their man. After the vote results were announced on Tuesday, Len McCluskey told MPs that if they wish to contest a Labour leadership, it must be done ‘democratically through an election, not through resignations and pointless posturing’. He warned that ‘Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters throughout the movement will be ready for it’.
There is a lot of anger in the trade union movement over the way MPs have behaved towards Corbyn this week. At Monday’s Momentum rally in support of Corbyn, a string of union representatives from Unite to the Fire Brigades Union pledged their allegiance to the leader.
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