David Miliband has accused former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn of "wrecking" his successor Sir Keir Starmer in an interview with Times Radio on Monday.
The former leadership candidate spoke out over claims by Corbyn and his supporters, alleging that top party staff attempted to sabotage the 2017 general election campaign and prevent a Labour victory.
“This is a pure wrecking tactic from Jeremy Corbyn and the Corbynite’s denial after four successive defeats is a route to more defeats.”
In reference to the defeat of Neil Kinnock 1992, the elder Miliband said that the party "got out of denial" and won in ‘97.
"Actually, we won three elections on the trot", he said. "When people got to look at Labour in 2017, we couldn’t beat the worst Tory campaign in history . . . and then when people got the full measure of Jeremy Corbyn in 2019, he led us to the worst election defeat since the 1930s. So it’s a wrecking tactic, and I hope people understand it for what it is".
EXCLUSIVE: @DMiliband accuses Corbyn of trying to "wreck" Starmer's leadership with claims he could have won the 2017 election
— Matt Chorley (@MattChorley) August 10, 2020
Story: https://t.co/UFUYKdoIMO
Full interview on @timesradio from 11am@DMiliband pic.twitter.com/8tJ150rgFT
Prior to Mr Corbyn’s resignation in April, an 860-page report seemed to show staffers exchanging WhatsApp messages and emails about supporting opponents to his leadership.
The report, which was later leaked, also showed staffers intentionally withholding information from Mr Corbyn's office over antisemitism complaints and acting disappointed when the party did better than predicted.
It also showed certain officials mocking and sending abusive messages about black Labour MPs and Corbyn supporters - notably Dawn Butler and Diane Abbott.
The officials claim that their messages were taken out of context in order to portray them negatively and are suing the party over breaches of data protection and libel.
Keir Starmer asked Martin Forde, QC, to oversee an investigation into the circumstances of the leaded documents, which was initially intended to be sent to the EHRC to provide "context" for the ongoing antisemitism inquiry.
In a statement seen by The Guardian on Friday, 7 August, Mr Corbyn and close allies said that it is not "impossible that Jeremy Corbyn might now be in his third year as a Labour prime minister were it not for the unauthorised, unilateral action taken by a handful of senior party officials".
