High Court to decide whether to allow 130,000 to vote in Labour leadership election
Judge will rule on whether Labour was right to ban new members from voting
NEARLY 130,000 more left-wingers could be cleared to back Jeremy Corbyn in Labour’s leadership contest today as a judge rules on their right to vote.
The High Court will decide whether the party was right to freeze out people who had been members of the party for less than six months.
A group of five is complaining they had “paid their dues” only to be blocked by the Labour's ruling National Executive Committee.
The vast majority are expected to back Mr Corbyn rather than rival Owen Smith – delivering a major boost to the veteran socialist and a hammer blow to his opponent.
And moderates are braced for an attempted purge by the leader’s allies if the decision goes in his favour.
It came after Mr Corbyn was engulfed in another anti-Semitism storm as a member of his office was accused of blasting a “Jewish conspiracy”.
Separately, spin chief Seumas Milne was also accused of having a “rant” about Israel to a junior aide – both claims dismissed as “false” by Mr Corbyn’s office.
Former policy advisor Josh Simons reported the incidents to a probe on Labour racism conducted by Shami Chakrabarti – and was dismayed to find they did not make her report, branding it a “whitewash”.
It piled further pressure on Ms Chakrabarti, who sparked a Labour civil war by accepting a peerage last week.
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Yesterday Mr Smith called Labour MPs or staffers to be banned from accepting honours or peerages for five years after leaving office.
And today he will call for a “new industrial revolution” as he continues his leadership campaign.
In a sign of growing confidence that he will win, last night Mr Corbyn suggested he would not quit if he leads Labour to general election defeat in 2020.
He also urged Tories to “think again” about his leadership and consider backing Labour.