An unnamed Labour MP has complained to the chief whip about bullying after Jeremy Corbyn’s team issued a roll call of MPs it claims have abused the leader and his allies.
Earlier on Wednesday, the list was issued of 13 MPs that the leader’s office accused of being abusive.
It included vocal backbencher Jess Phillips for telling Corbyn’s ally Diane Abbott to “fuck off”, MP John Woodcock for dismissing the party leader as a “fucking disaster” and former Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt for describing Labour as “in the shit”.
Even Corbyn’s deputy Tom Watson was included on the list for calling Momentum, the pro-Corbyn campaign group, a “rabble”.
The other MPs listed were Ian Austin, Neil Coyle, Ben Bradshaw, Frank Field, Anna Turley, Jamie Reed, Karl Turner, Stephen Kinnock and Tom Blenkinsop.
The New Statesman is reporting that the list was issued by a junior member of staff and not intended for any official use.
Corbyn and challenger Owen Smith are about to clash in the final hustings of the leadership election, which concludes on September 24.
A spokesman for the Corbyn campaign said: “Owen must explicitly condemn those who have threatened to split the party and tear it apart, as well as condemn the abuse instigated by his high-profile supporters.
“He must also make concrete commitments to doing his bit to foster party unity.”
During the Sky News hustings on Wednesday, Smith decried the list, telling Corbyn his calls for party unity were “hard to reconcile” with the release its release.
Smith said: “That isn’t unifying that is deeply divisive...
“I resigned [from the Shadow Cabinet] because I don’t think you are serious about uniting us. I don’t think you made any effort that I saw to unite us. I worry that we will be even more divided and even further behind the Tories and even less able to do the things that you and I want to make Britain a more equal place. It is about power and you’re not going to win it.”
Corbyn said the list referred to statements by MPs they “made on the record”.
Presenter Faisal Islam called it “playground stuff”. Corbyn denied Smith’s claim that publishing the list was an attempt to “sick Momentum onto them to get [the MPs] deselected”.
Last week, Smith’s campaign released a dossier of abuse it accused Corbyn of tolerating, saying the Labour leader was “more interested in deepening the divides within the party than winning elections”.