Allies of Jeremy Corbyn have drawn up “emergency leadership plans” amid fears that the Labour leader could be suspended over a series of alleged undeclared trips he took overseas, The Telegraph reports.
Senior party sources have claimed that the proposals have been devised in the event that Mr Corbyn is found to have breached Parliamentary rules following an investigation by the standards watchdog.
The plans, which are due to be put before the party’s governing body on Saturday, include a clause that would hand Labour’s national executive committee unprecedented powers to constrain the authority of Tom Watson, who would automatically become “caretaker” leader in Mr Corbyn’s absence.
It follows reports that Mr Corbyn is being investigated by Parliament’s Commissioner for Standards over a series of nine undeclared trips he made as a backbench MP, including his now notorious visit to Tunisia in October 2014.
One insider claimed that the recent suspension of the DUP’s Ian Paisley had left Mr Corbyn’s office “s— scared” that he could face a similar sanction.
