Local members will make rebel Labour MPs co-operate if Jeremy Corbyn is re-elected, John McDonnell claims

John McDonnell - Image credit: Press Association

Rebel Labour MPs will be pushed to co-operate by local members if Jeremy Corbyn is re-elected leader, John McDonnell has claimed.

The Shadow Chancellor also revealed that talks have taken place between the leadership and some shadow ministers who resigned aimed at persuading them to return to the fold after the leadership contest is over.

McDonnell was speaking at a pro-Corbyn rally in London last night.

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More than 60 Labour frontbenchers quit their posts in the wake of the EU referendum, and 172 of the party's MPs backed a motion of no confidence in the party leader.

But the Shadow Chancellor said: "When you look at the constituency nominations, large numbers of those who voted no confidence, their constituencies nominated Jeremy.

"They are going back to engage in a dialogue with members to talk about how they work together in future. That will generate co-operation at a national level."

McDonnell added: "I know that there will be some within the PLP who will not give up the ghost on seeking to remove Jeremy. I don't believe the vast bulk of the members of the PLP in any way want a split.

"We're talking to people now about how they can come back and work together. I think the bulk of the PLP just want to get on with the job and in that way we can come to a new climate."

He also launched a fresh attack on Labour bosses over the suspension of huge numbers of members in the run-up to the leadership election.

It has been claimed that tens of thousands have lost their right to take part in the vote as a result.

The Shadow Chancellor last week accused the party of carrying out a "rigged purge" of pro-Corbyn members following the suspension of Ronnie Draper, general secretary of the left-wing Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union.

McDonnell said: "What we're witnessing is a very British coup taking place - an attempt to remove a democratically-elected leader by a number of mechanisms that is undermining in our party and in our movement.

"We don't know the numbers yet of the people being purged, but some of them are absolutely appalling. We should not allow a disproportionate sanction to be used against such large numbers of members."