UNION boss Len McCluskey tried to orchestrate a face- saving exit for Jeremy Corbyn, it was claimed yesterday.
He offered to name the Labour chief’s departure day if MPs ditched a leadership challenge.
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Labour’s former deputy leader Tom Watson revealed the hard-Left power broker “dangled” the idea in secret talks after Mr Corbyn lost a no-confidence vote.
But the meeting ended in a bust-up and paved the way for three more years with Mr Corbyn at the helm.
Mr Watson was keen to find a solution after Labour MPs voted by a humiliating 172-40 against keeping their leader.
He said: “We were having private talks about how we handle the vote of no confidence in Jeremy.
He was basically offering a fairly long-term departure date for Jeremy to go — hints at, not absolute offers, that Jeremy would go in 2018.”
Mr Watson’s account reveals the huge power wielded by the Unite boss.
Mr Watson also told the Guardian he was driven out by the “brutality and hostility” at the heart of Labour.
