Tom Watson: ‘Trotskyists’ trying to infiltrate Labour Party

British Labour Party deputy leader Tom Watson has accused “Trotsky entryists” who have returned to the Labour Party of trying to manipulate younger members in order to bolster Jeremy Corbyn’s chances of remaining as leader.

Mr Watson said “Trots” have “come back to the party” despite them not having the “best interests of the Labour Party at heart”.

Mr Watson told The Guardian that some on the hard-left see Labour as a “vehicle for revolutionary socialism” and they are “not remotely interested in winning elections”.

His comments were published after a slate of left-leaning candidates was elected on to Labour’s National Executive Committee in an apparent boost for Mr Corbyn.

Mr Watson said he does not believe that the “vast majority of people” who have joined the party who have been mobilised by the pro-Corbyn Momentum campaign group “are all Trots and Bolsheviks”.

He said: “Some of these people are deeply interested in political change, in building a more equal society, and are just on a journey in politics that they’re new to, and I don’t want them to feel that I’m labelling them because I’m not.

“But there are some old hands twisting young arms in this process, and I’m under no illusions about what’s going on.”