A majority of Jeremy Corbyn supporters who are able to vote in the Labour leadership election believe MI5 is working to undermine the party leader, according to a poll.
Last week a YouGov survey for The Times found Corbyn was on course to easily beat Owen Smith in the leadership race and remain in post.
The polling firm also asked the Labour selectorate a series of other questions - a few of which it highlighted today.
YouGov found 55% of Corbyn supporters in the Labour selectorate believe the UK’s security services are working to undermine their man.
In July, Len McCluskey, the general secretary of the Unite union, suggested MI5 might be using “dark practices” against Corbyn and his supporters.
YouGov also discovered 35% of Corbyn’s fans believe Labour MPs have been planted by the Conservative Party in order to damage the left-wing of the Labour Party.
However some Labour MPs are less than convinced:
The poll also found 97% of Corbyn supporters believe the “mainstream media” has been deliberately biased against their man - compared to 69% of Labour voters and 51% of the general public.
In July, a former Labour MP and leading Corbyn supporter, Chris Williamson, suggested that MPs who want a new leader are Conservative Party “sleeper” agents.
In its poll, YouGov found a slight majority, 51%, of Corbyn supporters want him to remain as Labour leader even if, as polls suggest, he loses the next general election.
Prime Minister Theresa May today said she would not be calling a snap general election and instead would wait until 2020. “I think what’s important, particularly having had the referendum vote, is that we have a period of stability,” she told the BBC.
She added: “I’m not going to be calling a snap election. I’ve been very clear that I think we need that period of time, that stability to be able to deal with the issues that the country is facing and have that election in 2020.”