John McDonnell brands anti-Corbyn coup 'f***ing useless'

John McDonnell - credit Holyrood/Alister Thorpe

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has branded the Labour MPs trying to unseat Jeremy Corbyn “f***ing useless”.

The comment came during a rally held after Labour's ruling National Executive Committee decided Corbyn should appear on the ballot in the leadership election triggered by a challenge by Angela Eagle.

He has since said the comment was "a joke" and compared the speech to stand up comedy.

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McDonnell told the ‘JC4PM’ event: “Today we defeated the first wave of a coup against Jeremy Corbyn.

“We did it thanks to you, thanks to you because all of you created a climate of opinion which gave courage to our representatives on the NEC who voted 18 to 14 for Jeremy to be on the ballot paper.

“I say it is the first wave of the coup; they’ve been planning this coup from the day Jeremy got elected. They’ve been plotting and conniving. The only good thing about it: as plotters, they’re fucking useless.

“Don’t think they’ll stop there; they’ll come back and they’ll try to hit us again, and we’ll defeat them again, won’t we?...

“Why do you think this coup was mounted? It was because they cannot tolerate a socialist as the leader of the Labour party leading a socialist administration.”

Other prominent allies of Corbyn spoke at last night's event, including Shadow Health Secretary Diane Abbott and PCS union boss Mark Serwotka.

Speaking after the six-hour meeting of the NEc at Labour's London HQ last night, a spokesman said:

"The NEC has agreed that as the incumbent leader, Jeremy Corbyn will go forward onto the ballot without requiring nominations from the parliamentary Labour party and the European parliamentary Labour party. All other leadership candidates will require nominations from 20% of the PLP and EPLP.”

Angela Eagle, who has already announced she will challenge Mr Corbyn for the leadership, said: "I'm glad the NEC has come to a conclusion. I welcome the contest ahead and I am determined to win it."