UK: Civil war flare-up marks Labour Party Conference opening day
Robert Carter
Press TV, Brighton
Just one day into this year’s annual Labour Party Conference and already an internal dispute erupted after an attempt was made to oust the Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson by scraping his position - effectively pulling the rug from under his feet.
The party's ruling National Executive Committee made the surprise move to abolish the deputy leader’s position on Friday, sparking fury from some Labour MPs.
The motion was rejected because it was ruled out of order, but the panel was due to vote again on motion Saturday - however this latest move – branded a plot - was cancelled out yet again, this time by party leader, Jeremy Corbyn.
Watson has served under Corbyn since he came to power in 2015. However, he quickly lost favour among many members for his public criticism of Corbyn's leadership - building him a reputation as an anti-Corbyn rebel MP.
The party leadership acted quickly to squash this potentially damaging move, to maintain an image of unity, but other divisive debates are set to pit the different factions with Labour against each other.
Labour is already facing a battle over its Brexit policy with activists seeking to challenge the leader over his neutral stance on a 2nd referendum. Many Labour members, including Tom Watson and much of the Shadow cabinet, want Labour to campaign openly for remain. But this new civil war flare-up could overshadow the Brexit debate.
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