Labour is like ‘Lord of the Flies’ says John McDonnell as he confesses he runs a spy network to infiltrate meetings of ‘party rebels’

Jeremy Corbyn’s chief lieutenant has revealed how he runs a Stasi-like spy network to infiltrate meetings of moderate Labour MPs trying to unseat the hard-left leader.

John McDonnell boasted to lefty allies last night: “Their meetings were being leaked to us, we had people in the meetings letting us know what was going on, that’s why they’re useless.”

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Speaking at a fringe meeting at the TUC’s annual conference in Brighton, Mr McDonnell said there was an “Establishment” conspiracy against Mr Corbyn, but he insisted he was not “paranoid”.

The Shadow Chancellor told a meeting of the far-left Labour Representative Committee that the last year had been “more like Lord of the Flies quite honestly than you’d expect in a modern political system".

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Lashing out at his fellow Labour MPs, he claimed: “Jeremy is such a challenge to them, it’s about transforming the system, redistributing wealth and power and ensuring that we create a new society, that frightens the Establishment so they’re throwing everything at us.”

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“It isn’t just the City of London or the Tories, it’s part of the Establishment in our own political party as well.”

He said: “Don’t talk to me about the independence of the liberal press like the Guardian; they are as bad as some of the others.”

In a long rant, he added: “Sometimes we have to swim against the stream and stand up to vitriol. I know this sounds paranoid but some of this is organised by the Establishment to undermine us.”

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Last year Mr McDonnell backed calls to disband the British security services and abolish MI5.

In a fresh blow to Mr Corbyn, last night one of his key allies was ousted from representing women in the Labour Party.

North London MP Dawn Butler was fired as chairman of the Women’s Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP).

She was replaced by vocal Corbyn-critic Jess Phillips.