MI5 could be behind abuse of Jeremy Corbyn's critics, says Unite boss Len McCluskey

'Anybody who thinks that that isn't happening doesn't live in the same world that I live in,' insists union chief

Jeremy Corbyn and Len McCluskey, the General Secretary of Unite (Getty)

Unite leader Len McCluskey has claimed Britain's intelligence agencies may be responsible for the bullying and abuse directed towards critics of Jeremy Corbyn.

A loyal supporter of Mr Corbyn, the union boss said the security services had a history of "dark practices" and suggested "right-wingers" in disguise may be responsible for the actions attributed to the Labour leader's supporters.

Mr McCluskey told the Guardian: "Do people believe for one second that the security forces are not involved in dark practices?

“I have been around long enough … the type of stuff that we ultimately find out about, about who was involved in who, the 30-year rule.

“We found out just a couple of years ago that the chair of my union then, the Transport and General Workers Union, was an MI5 informant at the time that there was a strike taking place that I personally as a worker was involved in.

'[In] 1972, I was on strike for six weeks. And 30 years later it comes out that the chair of my union at that time was an MI5 informant.'

"Anybody who thinks that that isn't happening doesn't live in the same world that I live in. Do you think that there's not all kinds of right-wingers who are not secretly able to disguise themselves and stir up trouble? I find it amazing if people think that isn't happening."

Mr McCluskey accused MPs and others in the party who had complained of death threats and intimidation of exaggerating the problem."There's a hysteria being whipped up. A few people say things they shouldn't and then it's blown up out of all proportion, to suit the imagery that the Labour party has somehow become a cesspit, and suddenly it's a crisis," he said.

The remarks by the Unite chief come as Mr Corbyn appealed to Labour MPs to talk politics instead of accusing him of being a bully and a hypocrite.

He has denied an extraordinary allegation that he planned to contact the father of a Labour MP who had criticised him to put pressure on the son to shut up. He has also denied threatening MPs who have opposed him with mass sackings before the next general election.