Jeremy Corbyn blasts Tom Watson’s Trotskyists infiltration claims as ‘nonsense’ and says he can be next Prime Minister

LABOUR leader Jeremy Corbyn has slammed deputy Tom Watson’s claims of Trotskyists infiltrating the party as “nonsense”.

Mr Watson last week launched a scathing attack about hard-left factions joining and plotting to take over.

But Mr Corbyn said: “I just ask Tom to do the maths — 300,000 people have joined the Labour Party.

“At no stage in anyone’s most vivid imagination are there 300,000 sectarian extremists at large who have suddenly descended upon the Labour Party.”

He told The Observer: “Sorry Tom, it’s nonsense.”

Mr Corbyn also insisted yesterday he will be the next PM,

The Labour leader said he will mobilise his army of grassroots members to help him seize power at the next general election.

He vowed that placard-waving Corbynistas will be “at the heart of every community” when Britain next goes to the polls.

Mr Corbyn told a rally he would deploy “new and innovative methods” to win back seats he needs to form to the next Labour government.

And he pledged that 130,000 die-hard supporters denied a vote in next month’s leadership contest would be given a central role in his push for power.

But last night a senior Labour figure branded his boasts “delusional”.

The MP said: “He’s clearly not satisfied with conning the membership and has now started deceiving himself.”

Defiant Mr Corbyn said he was confident not only of seeing off a leadership challenge from Owen Smith but of toppling new PM Theresa May.

He told a Milton Keynes rally he will harness the power of Labour’s growing 500,000-strong membership to oust the Tories.

He declared: “We are using this leadership contest to demonstrate the new and innovative methods the Labour party will use to run our general election campaign.

“Using our mass membership we can organise within communities and communicate with voters in a more effective way than ever before.

“With over half-a-million members, Labour can be at the heart of every community and win the next general election.

“The movement contains new energy, new ideas and it’s a major part of our plan for government.

“During this campaign I am putting forward my case for how the next Labour government under my leadership will rebuild and transform Britain to ensure no one and nowhere is left behind.”

Mr Corbyn urged internal critics to “get on board” the party spearheaded by the membership and join him in “taking the fight to the Tories.”

But Labour MP Ian Austin dismissed his confidence and pointed out Labour is eight points worse in the polls than under the disastrous leadership of Michael Foot in the 1980s.

He said: “Can it get any worse? Tragically, the answer is almost certainly yes.”

Former Labour MP Tom Harris warned Labour is heading for a split – unless Mr Corbyn is removed as leader on September 24.

He said: “If Prime Minister May goes to the country early, she will secure a massive majority, almost all of it at Labour’s expense.

“Whether it’s formally recognised or not, Labour is no longer a single party.

It is two warring parties whose supporters despise each other and everything they stand for.”

Meanwhile, leftie union boss Len McCluskey is secretly helping to fund a legal battle aimed at propping up his pal Jeremy Corbyn.

He is using Unite cash to underwrite court action by five new Labour members denied a vote in the leadership contest.

The move, kicked out by judges, would have given the vote to 130,000.

Records show three unions linked to rail disputes, the RMT, Aslef and the TSSA, bankrolled Mr Corbyn’s 2015 leader bid with £40,000.