Former Labour leader accuses security services of leaking details of confidential meetings to suggest he was given ‘dressing down’
Jeremy Corbyn also claimed the military gave him a ‘warning’ over his opposition to airstrikes in Syria in 2015.
Jeremy Corbyn has alleged that he was “deliberately” undermined by MI5 and MI6 after meetings with the security services during his time as Labour leader.
Mr Corbyn, who led the party between 2015 and 2020, also claimed the military gave him a “warning” over his opposition to airstrikes in Syria in 2015.
The former leader of the opposition had refused to back the UK’s Trident nuclear deterrent during his tenure and did not directly condemn Moscow after the Salisbury poisoning in 2018.
In the September of that year, he was reportedly “summoned” by Andrew Parker, the then director-general of MI5, for a “facts of life” talk in light of controversy surrounding his policy positions.
Two months later, The Telegraph learned he had also met Alex Younger, the then head of MI6, in anticipation of a snap election triggered by the collapse of Brexit talks.
A senior security source said at the time that Mr Corbyn had received an in-depth briefing about the work of MI6 where it was stressed to him that the organisation does not pursue its own agenda.
But in an interview on Wednesday with the Declassified UK website – which describes itself as challenging the “secret state” – Mr Corbyn, 73, accused the security services of “leaking” details of the exchanges.
He said: “I instructed my office that this meeting had to be treated as completely confidential. And it was. It was leaked by them and it was leaked in a way to undermine. That somehow or other I’d been summoned and given a dressing down.
“That was not the nature of the meeting at all. They acknowledged I had a different view from themselves and the Government and the meetings were… pretty frank. Were they aggressive? No. It was an intelligent discussion.
“Obviously it was all recorded. Obviously it was all then leaked out as a way to be deliberately undermining of me.”
In 2015, a senior serving general was quoted in The Sunday Times suggesting “direct action” to stop a Labour government downgrading the British Army – which Mr Corbyn once suggested does not need to exist – or withdrawing from Nato, something he had also supported.
Mr Corbyn said: “We obviously challenged [the report] straight away and they said it was a rogue element and they didn’t speak for anybody else. But I thought it was a sort of shot across the bows, a warning to me.”
The MP for Islington North, who currently sits as an independent, lost the Labour whip in October 2020 after saying the scale of anti-Semitism in the party was “dramatically overstated for political reasons”.
His comments came after the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) found Labour guilty of unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination because of “inexcusable” failures to tackle the problem under his leadership.
Mr Corbyn insisted on Wednesday that his remarks were “reasonable and balanced” and went on to suggest the anti-Semitism crisis that engulfed his leadership was “very largely” due to his support for Palestine.
He said: “Somehow or other, I was accused of being anti-Semitic. The allegations against me were foul, dishonest and utterly disgusting and appalling from people who should know better and do know better.”
Saying he should have been more “robust” in how he dealt with the Labour Friends of Israel group of MPs, Mr Corbyn referred to “apparently very generous funding that Labour Friends of Israel gets from, I presume, the Israeli government”.
Ruth George, the former Labour MP for High Peak, made similar accusations in 2019 but proceeded to “unreservedly and wholeheartedly apologise… [for] invoking a conspiracy theory”.
Mr Corbyn, who said he was “focused on getting the whip back” amid reports that he planned to launch a new political party, said Sir Keir Starmer, his successor, had “parked” large parts of his 2019 manifesto.
MI5 and MI6 were contacted for comment.
Wouldn’t surprise me, they opened a file on him when he and Ken Livingstone met Gerry Adams in the 80s.
everybody knows that, its hardly news. sky blue, water wet, etc
Well security officers were activly plotting to overthrow Harold Wilson’s democratically elected government in the 1970s so why should we be surprised?
Does he sound a bit delusional to anyone else out there, or is that just me?
they have… time to be like that?
Ernest Hemingway claimed he was under surveillance by the FBI.
Doctors ascribed his paranoia to various reasons such as alcohlism and bi-polar disorder.
Turns out he was under surveillance by the FBI.
I actually believe him, but they still didn’t undermine his leadership as much as he did.
Who was that football player who had everything tapped by the media and he got so paranoid and spiralled and everyone said he was just being paranoid, but actually he was right the whole time and they were listening to his every word
I mean it’s probably true but his anti EU stance is always ignored by his most rabid supporters. I liked Corbyn but his EU stance meant I could never support him despite him being largely a good person.
Remember everyone, liberals and fascists always become best of friends because the REAL socialists and left are a danger to the profits of the companies that fund all right-wingers. The corruption is DEEP in the UK. Tory & neoliberal friends have installed goons and ideological cancer at the head of every national institution to enable deep state corruption, such as the smear campaign against Corbyn and socialist leaders of the past. Not that most people would know anything about those things, since they are hooked on tabloids and trapped in a state of cognitive dissonance.
Corbyn is very easy on the ear, and quite impressively down-to-earth, personable, and frank. The more so when you consider the years of vilification he’s had to suffer. He gives a comprehensive picture of the various campaigns against him, from his own point of view.
>He said: “I instructed my office that this meeting had to be treated as completely confidential. And it was. It was leaked by them and it was leaked in a way to undermine. That somehow or other I’d been summoned and given a dressing down.
Corbyn was consistently and devastatingly undermined by his own people throughout his entire tenure. I’m not saying it wasn’t the security services, but the list of people with a motive here is not small.
It wouldn’t surprise me if he was.
But honestly, the person most responsible for wrecking Corbyn’s leadership was Corbyn himself. He consistently showed terrible judgement, not least which was assuming that a less-than-expected loss against May was essentially a win.
People were not going to vote for a man who they didn’t view as being on their side – and unfortunately, Corbyn has a perpetual anti-West blind spot.
Even if you wanted to overlook the wreath-laying, or his response to Salisbury, his support for Argentina over the Falklands is a prime example. They have no democratic or legal right to the islands, and the invasion was carried out by an oppressive military junta – but they were against Britain, and that was enough for him.
>military gave him a “warning” over his opposition to airstrikes in Syria in 2015.
Confirming my slightly over paranoid bias/conspiracy that democracy is just a sham that gives itself legitimacy through the illusion our opinions and choices matter; the same people are still in charge. The trick is by making us think we’re responsible we fight and argue amongst ourselves instead of directing our anger at those at the top
The guy is literally IRA and Hamas sympathizer – of course he was under surveillance.
I wrote elsewhere in the thread:
There was no “anti-EU stance” from Corbyn while he was leader. By the time of the referendum he had walked back the Euroscepticism of his early career. His views on the EU were always nuanced (he never made noise about a referendum, unlike the liberal poster child Nick Clegg), and people have a right to change their minds anyway.
The idea that he was anti-EU was a fantasy of middle class neoliberals who wanted to sabotage Corbyn and prevent socialism. They were worried that Corbyn would crack down on landlords, increase the minimum wage and so on. That was their true anxiety.
Corbyn backed Remain in the referendum. His position immediately following the referendum was that the result should be respected and we should transition to as soft a Brexit as possible, which would honour the referendum while lessening the blow. In hindsight, this was actually the best position since “overturn the referendum” was a doomed cause.
In any case, Corbyn succumbed to pressure from the party and ended up moving to a second referendum.
In no way does any of this constitute an “anti-EU stance”.
Claims that he was anti-EU were made by saboteurs whose true agenda was anti-socialism, and fanatics who cannot tolerate ANY criticism of the EU even from people that voted and advocated Remain in the referendum.
Another few to add to the *very long* list of people he blames for his failures.
You might as well make up a dartboard with…
* Blairites
* All media in the country except Skwawkbox and Novara
* Centrists
* Remainers
* Saboteurs
* “The Establishment”
* MI5
* MI6
Have I missed any out?
He’s apparently the only leader in history not actually responsible for anything.
There’s a surprise?
MI6 are a self-own spy factory. MI5 are the political police. I guess it was MI5 who undermined him.
No you are just an extremist.
Can we please stop? Corbyn was unpalatable to a lot of people for a lot of reasons. People told Labour this time and time and again, especially with Abbott who is divisive to put it politely. This delusional thinking that it was just the media against him is insane.
There was a CD swap on a forum I used quite a while ago…… A few years later it turned out it was organised by an undercover police officer to get peoples names and addresses that we forum users.
I have no doubt, but to be honest, MI5 and MI6 are responsible for national security, and Corbyn was so naive that he was a massive risk. He was a good person, but not a good PM candidate.
Paranoid loser uses any and all reasoning to explain why his brand of ‘politician who isn’t a politician’ had the biggest loss in a GE in decades for Labour, rather than just admit a large number of traditional red wall Labour voters (read, all actual working class people) had no patience for his completely wank leadership style, that avoided conflict and sensible policy making at all costs, for the sake of far left socialism that hasn’t been popular in Britain for 50 years.
But yeah, we’re watching him.
Obvs
You’d have thought someone who spent decades warring against the establishment, the security services, the media, and basically anyone who even might be to the right of Marx might have had a plan rather than just assume they’ll play nicely now you’re winning…
Let’s face it, I don’t think Corbyn needed MI5 or MI6 or anybody else to “undermine” his leadership or election bid, did he?
I suspect that his failure to win the 2019 UK general election was probably slightly more to do with the fact that the Labour Party that he led didn’t really work very hard to put forward any policies, and Corbyn couldn’t personally really be arsed to do any campaigning, other than smugly receiving the adulation of acolytes tunelessly intoning “oo, Jeremy Corbyn”.
Its mad how everyone holds corbyn to the highest possible standard; ‘He once farted and walked past me , he would make an awful leader’. Where as the tories can literally impoverish your life and ‘well they’re tories thats juat what they do’ lets shrug it off
Or it might have just been his political alignment…
> Saying he should have been more “robust” in how he dealt with the Labour Friends of Israel group of MPs, Mr Corbyn referred to “apparently very generous funding that Labour Friends of Israel gets from, I presume, the Israeli government”.
Not helping himself is he? Why won’t he just retire and keep himself away from journalists.
33 comments
Former Labour leader accuses security services of leaking details of confidential meetings to suggest he was given ‘dressing down’
Jeremy Corbyn also claimed the military gave him a ‘warning’ over his opposition to airstrikes in Syria in 2015.
Jeremy Corbyn has alleged that he was “deliberately” undermined by MI5 and MI6 after meetings with the security services during his time as Labour leader.
Mr Corbyn, who led the party between 2015 and 2020, also claimed the military gave him a “warning” over his opposition to airstrikes in Syria in 2015.
The former leader of the opposition had refused to back the UK’s Trident nuclear deterrent during his tenure and did not directly condemn Moscow after the Salisbury poisoning in 2018.
In the September of that year, he was reportedly “summoned” by Andrew Parker, the then director-general of MI5, for a “facts of life” talk in light of controversy surrounding his policy positions.
Two months later, The Telegraph learned he had also met Alex Younger, the then head of MI6, in anticipation of a snap election triggered by the collapse of Brexit talks.
A senior security source said at the time that Mr Corbyn had received an in-depth briefing about the work of MI6 where it was stressed to him that the organisation does not pursue its own agenda.
But in an interview on Wednesday with the Declassified UK website – which describes itself as challenging the “secret state” – Mr Corbyn, 73, accused the security services of “leaking” details of the exchanges.
He said: “I instructed my office that this meeting had to be treated as completely confidential. And it was. It was leaked by them and it was leaked in a way to undermine. That somehow or other I’d been summoned and given a dressing down.
“That was not the nature of the meeting at all. They acknowledged I had a different view from themselves and the Government and the meetings were… pretty frank. Were they aggressive? No. It was an intelligent discussion.
“Obviously it was all recorded. Obviously it was all then leaked out as a way to be deliberately undermining of me.”
In 2015, a senior serving general was quoted in The Sunday Times suggesting “direct action” to stop a Labour government downgrading the British Army – which Mr Corbyn once suggested does not need to exist – or withdrawing from Nato, something he had also supported.
Mr Corbyn said: “We obviously challenged [the report] straight away and they said it was a rogue element and they didn’t speak for anybody else. But I thought it was a sort of shot across the bows, a warning to me.”
The MP for Islington North, who currently sits as an independent, lost the Labour whip in October 2020 after saying the scale of anti-Semitism in the party was “dramatically overstated for political reasons”.
His comments came after the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) found Labour guilty of unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination because of “inexcusable” failures to tackle the problem under his leadership.
Mr Corbyn insisted on Wednesday that his remarks were “reasonable and balanced” and went on to suggest the anti-Semitism crisis that engulfed his leadership was “very largely” due to his support for Palestine.
He said: “Somehow or other, I was accused of being anti-Semitic. The allegations against me were foul, dishonest and utterly disgusting and appalling from people who should know better and do know better.”
Saying he should have been more “robust” in how he dealt with the Labour Friends of Israel group of MPs, Mr Corbyn referred to “apparently very generous funding that Labour Friends of Israel gets from, I presume, the Israeli government”.
Ruth George, the former Labour MP for High Peak, made similar accusations in 2019 but proceeded to “unreservedly and wholeheartedly apologise… [for] invoking a conspiracy theory”.
Mr Corbyn, who said he was “focused on getting the whip back” amid reports that he planned to launch a new political party, said Sir Keir Starmer, his successor, had “parked” large parts of his 2019 manifesto.
MI5 and MI6 were contacted for comment.
Wouldn’t surprise me, they opened a file on him when he and Ken Livingstone met Gerry Adams in the 80s.
everybody knows that, its hardly news. sky blue, water wet, etc
Well security officers were activly plotting to overthrow Harold Wilson’s democratically elected government in the 1970s so why should we be surprised?
They have been targeting the Labour party since its inception starting with the [Zinoviev letter](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinoviev_letter) in the 1920’s
Does he sound a bit delusional to anyone else out there, or is that just me?
they have… time to be like that?
Ernest Hemingway claimed he was under surveillance by the FBI.
Doctors ascribed his paranoia to various reasons such as alcohlism and bi-polar disorder.
Turns out he was under surveillance by the FBI.
I actually believe him, but they still didn’t undermine his leadership as much as he did.
Who was that football player who had everything tapped by the media and he got so paranoid and spiralled and everyone said he was just being paranoid, but actually he was right the whole time and they were listening to his every word
I mean it’s probably true but his anti EU stance is always ignored by his most rabid supporters. I liked Corbyn but his EU stance meant I could never support him despite him being largely a good person.
Remember everyone, liberals and fascists always become best of friends because the REAL socialists and left are a danger to the profits of the companies that fund all right-wingers. The corruption is DEEP in the UK. Tory & neoliberal friends have installed goons and ideological cancer at the head of every national institution to enable deep state corruption, such as the smear campaign against Corbyn and socialist leaders of the past. Not that most people would know anything about those things, since they are hooked on tabloids and trapped in a state of cognitive dissonance.
Was it a witch hunt?
I admit I don’t really care to read what I assume is the [Woke-o-graph](https://www.google.com/search?q=intitle%3Awoke+site%3Atelegraph.co.uk)’s latest attempt to smear Corbyn.
For anyone interested in what he actually said, though, I’d definitely recommend [the full interview on youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXfoKJEqRPs).
Corbyn is very easy on the ear, and quite impressively down-to-earth, personable, and frank. The more so when you consider the years of vilification he’s had to suffer. He gives a comprehensive picture of the various campaigns against him, from his own point of view.
>He said: “I instructed my office that this meeting had to be treated as completely confidential. And it was. It was leaked by them and it was leaked in a way to undermine. That somehow or other I’d been summoned and given a dressing down.
Corbyn was consistently and devastatingly undermined by his own people throughout his entire tenure. I’m not saying it wasn’t the security services, but the list of people with a motive here is not small.
It wouldn’t surprise me if he was.
But honestly, the person most responsible for wrecking Corbyn’s leadership was Corbyn himself. He consistently showed terrible judgement, not least which was assuming that a less-than-expected loss against May was essentially a win.
People were not going to vote for a man who they didn’t view as being on their side – and unfortunately, Corbyn has a perpetual anti-West blind spot.
Even if you wanted to overlook the wreath-laying, or his response to Salisbury, his support for Argentina over the Falklands is a prime example. They have no democratic or legal right to the islands, and the invasion was carried out by an oppressive military junta – but they were against Britain, and that was enough for him.
>military gave him a “warning” over his opposition to airstrikes in Syria in 2015.
Confirming my slightly over paranoid bias/conspiracy that democracy is just a sham that gives itself legitimacy through the illusion our opinions and choices matter; the same people are still in charge. The trick is by making us think we’re responsible we fight and argue amongst ourselves instead of directing our anger at those at the top
The guy is literally IRA and Hamas sympathizer – of course he was under surveillance.
I wrote elsewhere in the thread:
There was no “anti-EU stance” from Corbyn while he was leader. By the time of the referendum he had walked back the Euroscepticism of his early career. His views on the EU were always nuanced (he never made noise about a referendum, unlike the liberal poster child Nick Clegg), and people have a right to change their minds anyway.
The idea that he was anti-EU was a fantasy of middle class neoliberals who wanted to sabotage Corbyn and prevent socialism. They were worried that Corbyn would crack down on landlords, increase the minimum wage and so on. That was their true anxiety.
Corbyn backed Remain in the referendum. His position immediately following the referendum was that the result should be respected and we should transition to as soft a Brexit as possible, which would honour the referendum while lessening the blow. In hindsight, this was actually the best position since “overturn the referendum” was a doomed cause.
In any case, Corbyn succumbed to pressure from the party and ended up moving to a second referendum.
In no way does any of this constitute an “anti-EU stance”.
Claims that he was anti-EU were made by saboteurs whose true agenda was anti-socialism, and fanatics who cannot tolerate ANY criticism of the EU even from people that voted and advocated Remain in the referendum.
Another few to add to the *very long* list of people he blames for his failures.
You might as well make up a dartboard with…
* Blairites
* All media in the country except Skwawkbox and Novara
* Centrists
* Remainers
* Saboteurs
* “The Establishment”
* MI5
* MI6
Have I missed any out?
He’s apparently the only leader in history not actually responsible for anything.
There’s a surprise?
MI6 are a self-own spy factory. MI5 are the political police. I guess it was MI5 who undermined him.
No you are just an extremist.
Can we please stop? Corbyn was unpalatable to a lot of people for a lot of reasons. People told Labour this time and time and again, especially with Abbott who is divisive to put it politely. This delusional thinking that it was just the media against him is insane.
There was a CD swap on a forum I used quite a while ago…… A few years later it turned out it was organised by an undercover police officer to get peoples names and addresses that we forum users.
I have no doubt, but to be honest, MI5 and MI6 are responsible for national security, and Corbyn was so naive that he was a massive risk. He was a good person, but not a good PM candidate.
Paranoid loser uses any and all reasoning to explain why his brand of ‘politician who isn’t a politician’ had the biggest loss in a GE in decades for Labour, rather than just admit a large number of traditional red wall Labour voters (read, all actual working class people) had no patience for his completely wank leadership style, that avoided conflict and sensible policy making at all costs, for the sake of far left socialism that hasn’t been popular in Britain for 50 years.
But yeah, we’re watching him.
Obvs
You’d have thought someone who spent decades warring against the establishment, the security services, the media, and basically anyone who even might be to the right of Marx might have had a plan rather than just assume they’ll play nicely now you’re winning…
Let’s face it, I don’t think Corbyn needed MI5 or MI6 or anybody else to “undermine” his leadership or election bid, did he?
I suspect that his failure to win the 2019 UK general election was probably slightly more to do with the fact that the Labour Party that he led didn’t really work very hard to put forward any policies, and Corbyn couldn’t personally really be arsed to do any campaigning, other than smugly receiving the adulation of acolytes tunelessly intoning “oo, Jeremy Corbyn”.
Its mad how everyone holds corbyn to the highest possible standard; ‘He once farted and walked past me , he would make an awful leader’. Where as the tories can literally impoverish your life and ‘well they’re tories thats juat what they do’ lets shrug it off
Or it might have just been his political alignment…
> Saying he should have been more “robust” in how he dealt with the Labour Friends of Israel group of MPs, Mr Corbyn referred to “apparently very generous funding that Labour Friends of Israel gets from, I presume, the Israeli government”.
Not helping himself is he? Why won’t he just retire and keep himself away from journalists.
He undermined his own leadership pretty good
You did that yourself mate.