After the latest Labour antisemitism revelations, Tom Watson is the thorn Corbyn can’t pluck from his side

Inside Westminster: The deputy leader cannot be sacked because he too was elected by members. And now he’s on a one-man mission to save the party

“We have to sit tight; only the left can defeat Corbyn; eventually, they will do it to save Corbynism,” one critic of the Labour leader told me. But others take a different view, saying: “We can’t go on like this. At some point there will be an act of spontaneous combustion.” They predict a different outcome to 2016, when Owen Smith’s formal leadership challenge flopped.

That Labour MPs are having such anguished conversations tells us a lot about the dire state of their party. Jeremy Corbyn’s grip on it is loosening.

It was significant that his two closest shadow cabinet allies, John McDonnell and Diane Abbott, forced him into a change of policy on Brexit this week. Against the wishes of his inner circle, he conceded Labour would support a Final Say referendum on any Conservative Brexit deal, in order to stop a no-deal Brexit, and it would advocate Remain. But he tossed a bone to his ultra-loyal advisers by keeping his options open if there is a general election.

The inner circle dictated Labour’s response to the disturbing new evidence about the party’s handling of antisemitism complaints on the BBC’s Panorama programme. The counter-attack was straight out of the Donald Trump playbook. First, shoot the fake news, biased media messenger. Second, undermine your critics. So we were told the eight former Labour staffers who bravely blew the whistle were disaffected, politically partisan and hostile towards Corbyn. Third, create a diversion. Here, it was a bit of whataboutery: why was the BBC ignoring allegations of Islamophobia in the Conservative Party? A serious issue, indeed, but one which does not absolve Labour from the need to stamp out the racism within its ranks.

The counter-attack misfired, and shot Corbyn in the foot.

Of course there are a few disillusioned former staffers in any party, but not the numbers coming forward now. Some 30 current and former officials will submit evidence to the Equality and Human Rights Commission inquiry into whether Labour unlawfully discriminated against Jewish people. It was a mistake to impugn the motives of those who spoke to Panorama, as their personal anguish showed; one considered taking their own life. The party of the workers appears to have failed its own workers.

What’s been missed is that they were professional compliance officers, as well as Labour members, who felt unable to do their job. They believed decisions were being made on a political basis. Jennie Formby, the general secretary and part of Corbyn’s inner circle, has speeded up the handling of complaints. But the ex-staffers claimed she brought in people who overruled them to administer a rap on the knuckles when a more serious punishment was needed.

The reaction to the programme is revealing. As on Brexit, even Corbyn loyalists are uneasy, which matters more than criticism by the usual suspects. Andrew Gwynne, the shadow communities secretary, put up by Labour to state its defence on the programme, took a different line after watching it. He said: “Panorama was harrowing: the Labour Party has a duty of care for staff, and to their ongoing health and wellbeing. We also have to do a lot more, and faster, to get any antisemitism rooted out once and for all and show the Jewish community that zero tolerance means just that.”

Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, declined to endorse Labour’s claim that the programme was a political attack on the party. She said: “It is no use blaming anyone else, or diverting attention to other issues. This is our problem, we need to fix it, and we need to get rid of the racists in our midst.” Dawn Butler, the shadow equalities minister, was “saddened” by the programme and the hurt caused to Jewish party members by antisemitism within the Labour family.

Butler called for an independent complaints system, which Corbyn would be wise to introduce – and quickly. He should also ensure the automatic suspension of members when there is a prima facie case of antisemitism.

Some Labour insiders insist the controversy does not “cut through” to the voters. Regardless, it certainly drowns out Labour’s message on issues such as the economy, public services and inequality. It will hardly encourage Labour voters who switched to the Liberal Democrats or Greens over Brexit to return.

When frontbenchers do media interviews, they are rightly asked about antisemitism. One interview on Thursday confirmed that Labour is two parties under the surface. When Tom Watson, its deputy leader, appeared on Radio 4’s Today programme to discuss Panorama, he was speaking personally, not on behalf of the leadership, and he criticised its response.

He is a thorn in Corbyn’s side. He can’t be sacked because he, too, was directly elected by Labour’s members.

Corbynistas claim Watson’s constant criticism shows he is plotting to oust Corbyn and take over. I suspect that he is in fact on a one-man mission to save his party from the downward spiral it has fallen into, and knows his attacks make it less likely he will inherit the leadership.

As Corbyn’s support network gets smaller, and his ultra-loyalists circle the wagons, it is no longer fanciful to ask who will inherit the party.