Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of ‘bullying’ after his team drew up ‘hit list’ of Labour MPs alleged to have abused him
But the hapless leftie has defended the document, which singles out 13 of his colleagues – including his own deputy
JEREMY Corbyn has been accused of “bullying” after his team drew up a "hit list" identifying Labour MPs for abusing him.
The hapless leftie has defended the document, which singles out 13 of his colleagues – including his own deputy Tom Watson.
Other leading figures in the party such as his leadership rival Owen Smith, Tristram Hunt and Jess Phillips were name-checked over their alleged behaviour since Mr Corbyn took the party's top job.
But his campaign team, which issued the press release, has distanced itself from the document - saying it was a draft that had not been signed and was issued accidentally.
A complaint has now been lodged by an unnamed MP to the party's chief whip and general secretary, which said the action amounted to "harassment and bullying by the leader of the parliamentary party".
They warned it was "not acceptable for Labour MPs to be deliberately victimised by the leader of our party in this way", while furious MPs said the move was "shabby" and "trial by troll".
But during a televised Labour leadership hustings on Sky News, Mr Corbyn dismissed the criticism.
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He said last night: "There was information put out there which is statements that colleagues made on the record and it's all stuff that is out there on the public record."
Leadership rival Owen Smith attacked the Labour leader over the "divisive" dossier.
"That isn't unifying," he said. "That is deeply divisive and frankly, it's where you began the contest by talking about de-selection."
The campaign team has apologised to the party's deputy leader, Tom Watson, but it is not clear if that has been extended to the other MPs listed.
Mr Corbyn's team reissued the document without the list of MPs and the "misdemeanours" they had been listed for.
Neil Coyle, MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, who was among those criticised, said he was "fuming".
He tweeted: "Desperate, trial by troll, victim-culture claims from an anonymous source backing Corbyn this eve. Fuming."
The original release highlighted the behaviour of a number of other Labour MPs, including Jess Phillips for telling Mr Corbyn's ally Diane Abbott to "f*** off".
It also mentioned John Woodcock for dismissing the party leader as a ";f****** disaster" and Tristram Hunt for describing Labour as "in the s***".
Ian Austin, Ben Bradshaw, Frank Field, Anna Turley, Jamie Reed, Karl Turner, Stephen Kinnock and Tom Blenkinsop were all also identified by the campaign over claims about their behaviour.
Mr Watson, who was elected deputy by party members, had been picked out for calling the grassroots Corbyn campaign Momentum a "rabble".
Mr Smith was attacked for appearing to describe the leader as a "lunatic" - something he denies - and accused of running a negative campaign.