:00:00. > :00:00.What's to become of a cycling superhero?
:00:07. > :00:09.Since the hacking of his medical records, Sir Bradley Wiggins has
:00:10. > :00:12.been mired in questions over his use of a powerful steroid before
:00:13. > :00:17.Tonight his former team doctor tells Newsnight he was "surprised"
:00:18. > :00:24.I would say now, certainly in retrospect, it doesn't look good,
:00:25. > :00:29.From a health or sporting perspective.
:00:30. > :00:36.We hear from a doctor at the hospital attacked today
:00:37. > :00:38.where two weeks ago we watched an operation guided
:00:39. > :00:42.I'll be talking to the surgeon who directed that operation
:00:43. > :00:47.It's 99% sure it's going to be Jeremy Corbyn's big day tomorrow.
:00:48. > :00:52.But can the rebels and the Corbynistas learn to live together?
:00:53. > :00:54.The Labour Party unites behind whoever wins,
:00:55. > :00:57.I hope and believe it will be Jeremy Corbyn.
:00:58. > :01:00.I do not approve of a decent 66-year-old man being mugged
:01:01. > :01:04.in broad daylight in cold blood by people who do not see
:01:05. > :01:21.A former team doctor of the cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins has questioned
:01:22. > :01:23.the decision to allow him to inject banned steroids ahead
:01:24. > :01:29.Prentice Steffen, the doctor at Sir Bradley's former
:01:30. > :01:32.team Garmin Slipstream, has weighed into the debate
:01:33. > :01:40.over his former rider's use of a powerful corticosteroid.
:01:41. > :01:42.Many believe it has potent performance enhancing benefits.
:01:43. > :01:44.Sir Bradley, who is Britain's most decorated Olympian,
:01:45. > :01:50.was given permission by cycling authorities to inject the drug ahead
:01:51. > :01:52.of three major stage races, including the 2012 Tour de
:01:53. > :01:56.Sir Bradley and his former cycling Team Sky have said his use
:01:57. > :01:59.of the drug was for legitimate medical reasons, and that no
:02:00. > :02:04.But the disclosure of the medical data, which was stolen and leaked
:02:05. > :02:07.by a group of suspected Russian hackers, has polarised
:02:08. > :02:10.the sport of cycling, which is has been attempting
:02:11. > :02:12.to confine its troubled history of drug-taking to the past.
:02:13. > :02:29.Team Sky launched in 2009 as the poster boy for a clean cycling.
:02:30. > :02:34.Accepting the mantle of dragging the sport out of the doping gutter. And
:02:35. > :02:39.proving the biggest races could be won without crossing the line into
:02:40. > :02:43.using banned drugs. But where that line actually lies is under more
:02:44. > :02:48.scrutiny than ever before. With the disclosures from the suspected
:02:49. > :02:53.Russian hackers over the therapeutic use exemptions for TUEs, obtain for
:02:54. > :02:57.its former star rider, Sir Bradley Wiggins. And whether these have
:02:58. > :03:05.strayed into the so-called grey area between clean and doping. From Team
:03:06. > :03:12.Sky, pro cycling... Sir Bradley Wiggins! And asthma and allergy
:03:13. > :03:17.sufferer, the stolen data revealed he was given permission to inject
:03:18. > :03:22.the banned drug triamcinolone, a powerful corticosteroid just ahead
:03:23. > :03:26.of three major races, including the 2012 edition of the Tour de France,
:03:27. > :03:33.which he won, becoming the first Briton ever to do so. The story has
:03:34. > :03:38.polarised the sport. This is, after all, stolen data containing the
:03:39. > :03:43.medal records of our greatest ever Olympian. Data which shows that
:03:44. > :03:46.neither he nor Team Sky have broken any rules, they have followed the
:03:47. > :03:50.cycling authorities' procedures to the limit. So why is this being
:03:51. > :03:56.discussed? Because there are those who believe that this was unethical.
:03:57. > :04:01.But it does not smell right. And now the figures intimate with the world
:04:02. > :04:06.of cycling and the fight against performing its enhancing drugs,
:04:07. > :04:11.including Sir Bradley Wiggins' team doctor, have told Newsnight they
:04:12. > :04:16.fear something is amiss. 2009 was his breakthrough year in road
:04:17. > :04:19.racing. Riding for the Garmin Slipstream team. Doctor Prentice
:04:20. > :04:27.Steffen cannot comment on Sir Bradley Wiggins' private records but
:04:28. > :04:31.he did say this... I was surprised to see that there were TUEs
:04:32. > :04:39.documented for intramuscular triamcinolone just before three
:04:40. > :04:44.major events, the Tour de France and the Giro D'Italia. We do think it is
:04:45. > :04:50.coincidental that a big dose of intramuscular corticosteroid would
:04:51. > :04:56.be needed at that time of year at that exact time before the most
:04:57. > :05:01.important race of the season. The rules for obtaining TUEs stipulate
:05:02. > :05:05.these conditions. The banned drug can only be used to treat an acute
:05:06. > :05:10.or chronic medical condition. That it is highly unlikely to produce any
:05:11. > :05:15.additional enhancement of performance. And that there is still
:05:16. > :05:19.reasonable therapeutic alternative. So what of the first? The
:05:20. > :05:22.interpretation of acute or chronic is subjective. But some of those who
:05:23. > :05:28.treat these conditions in athletes say this is not the course of action
:05:29. > :05:30.they would expect to see. Doctor John Dickinson has worked with more
:05:31. > :05:38.than 1000 athletes with respiratory problems. You are not being
:05:39. > :05:43.controlled with your normal inhaler, then that medication is reserved for
:05:44. > :05:47.individuals who have a very severe asthma responds and they are in need
:05:48. > :05:49.of emergency care, which would suggest that particular individual
:05:50. > :05:54.is maybe not fit and well to compete in any league road race at that
:05:55. > :05:58.point. So what of the second condition, that the TUE must be
:05:59. > :06:02.highly unlikely to produce any additional enhancement of
:06:03. > :06:06.performance? Some experts say cortical strides don't but others,
:06:07. > :06:09.including former pro cyclists, insist they do. I have come to
:06:10. > :06:17.Denmark to meet one man who should know. Michael had been just four
:06:18. > :06:21.stages away from winning the Tour de France in 2007 when he was thrown
:06:22. > :06:25.out of the race for avoiding doping controls. He later blew the whistle
:06:26. > :06:32.on his own doping and the culture within the sport at that time. Is
:06:33. > :06:36.there any doubt in your mind that corticosteroids are put into
:06:37. > :06:44.performance enhancing drug? There is no doubt. There are very strong.
:06:45. > :06:52.Banned performance enhancing. What sort of benefits would
:06:53. > :07:00.corticosteroids give the rider? Well, Edward postpone the sensation
:07:01. > :07:10.of fatigue, increased recovery speed and most importantly, quite easily,
:07:11. > :07:14.I would maybe drop one or none two kilos, which is maybe a problem when
:07:15. > :07:21.you want to climb mountains fast. It would help you burn fat? Yes, it
:07:22. > :07:27.would strip the body of excess fat in quite a short period of time. And
:07:28. > :07:31.you have watched this happening to your body? Yes, it is very fast and
:07:32. > :07:36.very effective in that sense. So what of this depletion that they
:07:37. > :07:39.should be no reasonable therapeutic alternative? For severe asthma and
:07:40. > :07:45.allergy attacks, the people we spoke to agreed that triamcinolone will
:07:46. > :07:49.certainly do the job. But that does not make it necessarily the right
:07:50. > :07:54.drug for the job. I have never myself been involved with another
:07:55. > :07:58.late who is going that far in terms of treatment for an asthmatic
:07:59. > :08:01.condition, we really concentrate on working on athletes to make sure
:08:02. > :08:06.that when we know they are asthmatic we make sure they're on the ultimate
:08:07. > :08:13.inhaler therapy so they never need to go to that level, to go above or
:08:14. > :08:16.into the TUE area. Had Bradley Wiggins needed triamcinolone when
:08:17. > :08:24.with his former team, he would have been deemed to sick to race, in
:08:25. > :08:29.which he finished fourth. Garman and the rest of the peloton formed a
:08:30. > :08:32.group called the movement for credible cycling, whose members were
:08:33. > :08:40.bound by strict rules around racing on corticosteroids, Team Sky never
:08:41. > :08:46.joined. I was never there to see what Bradley's condition was. But
:08:47. > :08:52.many of us would say that if you are in bad shape to need medically to
:08:53. > :08:57.resort to high-powered corticosteroids, you should not be
:08:58. > :09:03.racing at all and that is the position of the MPC see. Only Sir
:09:04. > :09:08.Bradley Wiggins and the Team Sky doctors know the full details of his
:09:09. > :09:12.medical condition. What we do know is he had a TUE from standard
:09:13. > :09:17.inhaler in 2009 which would no longer need an exemption. And it was
:09:18. > :09:20.in that year that Bradley Wiggins made his breakthrough, finishing
:09:21. > :09:25.fourth in the tour of France. Without any corticosteroid TUE.
:09:26. > :09:31.According to the TUE form in 2011 and nasal endoscopy was performed
:09:32. > :09:34.with Team Sky Doctor suggesting a more serious intervention was
:09:35. > :09:38.required to treat Sir Bradley Burrowes like allergies. However, he
:09:39. > :09:45.continued to race in the years following his final TUE in 2013 in
:09:46. > :09:50.high pollen areas, albeit in a shorter and less profile race. In
:09:51. > :09:53.2012 he published a 300 page autobiography and there is no
:09:54. > :09:59.mention of asthma or allergies but he does speak about how healthy he
:10:00. > :10:06.had been in 2012, suffering only from one or two minor colds. The
:10:07. > :10:09.convicted doper, Michael Rasmus, says the pattern of Sir Bradley
:10:10. > :10:18.Burrowes Mike TUE use look similar. Just looking at the drugs and the
:10:19. > :10:22.dates of the injections, it looked very much like something that could
:10:23. > :10:30.have happened ten years ago when I was riding. If you look solely at
:10:31. > :10:41.the pattern of the TUEs of Bradley Wiggins, then you would say that
:10:42. > :10:45.this looks very suspicious. It is something that a rider would do if
:10:46. > :10:52.he wants to perform on a grand tour. Something that I would do something
:10:53. > :10:56.that I did. I would say certainly that in retrospect, it does not look
:10:57. > :11:03.good, it does not look right. From a health or sporting perspective. The
:11:04. > :11:06.process around the granting of TUEs is now under question. Each
:11:07. > :11:10.application is submitted by the team doctor and in the case of Bradley
:11:11. > :11:14.Wiggins it is understood that was Doctor Richard Freeman, now the head
:11:15. > :11:18.doctor at British cycling. The application is then supposed to be
:11:19. > :11:22.assessed by three independent medical experts, with the relevant
:11:23. > :11:28.sporting authority. In this case, the new CI, before being authorised.
:11:29. > :11:32.I would say that Bradley is probably at the bottom of the list, to be
:11:33. > :11:39.held personally responsible. I think his doctor and his team, to make the
:11:40. > :11:44.decision to apply for that TUE, is questionable and then I think, for
:11:45. > :11:51.the international cycling union or UK cycling or the World Anti-Doping
:11:52. > :11:58.Agency to sign off on that, that application, all things considered,
:11:59. > :12:02.I think really bad as the end point where the TUE committee should have
:12:03. > :12:07.looked at that and said, this is not acceptable. We're not going to it.
:12:08. > :12:13.You see I told Newsnight it had a robust TUE policy. This is a story
:12:14. > :12:17.that seems to be painted in shades of grey and even then, we don't have
:12:18. > :12:21.the full picture. But at least in the eyes of one former cheat, there
:12:22. > :12:26.remains a clear line between right and wrong. Well, a lot of riders
:12:27. > :12:35.feel that they are playing by the rules. But I think that once you
:12:36. > :12:38.actually make that decision, to get the certificate for the wrong
:12:39. > :12:45.reasons, then you are crossing the line. Sir Bradley Burrowes met
:12:46. > :12:47.representatives did not respond to questions from Newsnight. But
:12:48. > :13:01.previously they said in a statement...
:13:02. > :13:25.Sir Bradley Wiggins team insist that nothing has been done that is wrong.
:13:26. > :13:28.But for some, it is a situation with echoes of cycling past that was
:13:29. > :13:31.hoped had disappeared for good. And a situation which some believe needs
:13:32. > :13:33.all the facts disclosed. And there will be an exclusive
:13:34. > :13:35.interview with Bradley Wiggins on the Andrew Marr Show
:13:36. > :13:37.on Sunday morning. Aleppo has been under
:13:38. > :13:40.intense bombardment today. More than 45 people are reported
:13:41. > :13:43.to have been killed in rebel held areas, but it's not clear
:13:44. > :13:45.whether it was from Syrian The White House said tonight that
:13:46. > :13:52.Russia's credibility is at stake. We understand that a hospital
:13:53. > :13:55.was attacked - the same hospital from where you may remember,
:13:56. > :13:59.Newsnight was able to bring you film of an operation being guided
:14:00. > :14:01.from London over Skype Today we got alarming
:14:02. > :14:07.news of the current I must warn you that his film begins
:14:08. > :14:12.with an image that some Two weeks ago this man
:14:13. > :14:20.got a new jaw, thanks In a world first, they were talked
:14:21. > :14:27.through how to do the operation by London surgeon Dr David Nott,
:14:28. > :14:31.via Skype and WhatsApp. The patient is recovering well
:14:32. > :14:34.and that is pretty amazing for a city under siege,
:14:35. > :14:36.but tonight Newsnight has learnt that the hospital is running out
:14:37. > :14:39.of food and neither doctors nor patients have
:14:40. > :14:44.eaten properly for days. So this man who was pulled
:14:45. > :14:47.through an incredibly complicated Today, the surgeon in Aleppo
:14:48. > :14:59.sent Dr Nott an update. The writing on the cluster bomb
:15:00. > :15:23.is in the Russian alphabet. We cannot verify the photo,
:15:24. > :15:25.but Human Rights Watch has identified cluster bombs being used
:15:26. > :15:27.at least ten times The Russians have consistently
:15:28. > :15:36.denied using cluster bombs. You have many of them
:15:37. > :15:41.in a larger bomb casing. These are dispersed
:15:42. > :15:43.above the target. They fall onto the target
:15:44. > :15:45.and they explode on contact. We find that these type
:15:46. > :15:48.of cluster munitions, many of them do not explode
:15:49. > :15:51.and you get remains like this, partial remains of them as you can
:15:52. > :15:54.see in these photographs. What is interesting about these,
:15:55. > :15:57.is the specific type of cluster munitions was not seen
:15:58. > :16:02.until the Russian bombing campaign in Syria started and we also have
:16:03. > :16:05.images from the Russian Ministry of Defence that show Russian jets
:16:06. > :16:12.using these cluster bombs in Syria. Back in the hospital,
:16:13. > :16:14.doctors sent these images of children being operated
:16:15. > :16:16.on to David Nott who This boy has lost right arm and this
:16:17. > :16:29.is the latest victim. Newsnight has been told that five
:16:30. > :16:31.rockets hit the area around Just two weeks ago, the doctors
:16:32. > :16:36.were breaking medical boundaries Tonight, they are hungry,
:16:37. > :16:42.under fire, under siege David Nott - the surgeon who you saw
:16:43. > :17:02.in that piece - joins us. Good evening. You are getting
:17:03. > :17:08.increasingly frantic messages today then. From this morning onwards,
:17:09. > :17:13.they sent a message to save the hospital had been bond with cluster
:17:14. > :17:18.bombs and I was asking if they were OK and there was no response with --
:17:19. > :17:22.from hours on end and then there was a response to say they were OK but
:17:23. > :17:29.they were inundated with patience and there are no beds, the beds are
:17:30. > :17:34.full, no ITU beds and they were running out of intravenous fluids to
:17:35. > :17:38.resuscitate their patients. A dire situation. These doctors are working
:17:39. > :17:44.night and day. 24 hours a day, there are only three of them now, three
:17:45. > :17:55.surgeons, very good surgeons, well-qualified, but
:17:56. > :17:59.they are there constantly. When we watched you on the Newsnight
:18:00. > :18:01.filament gauging the operation, extraordinary, in the hospital, it
:18:02. > :18:04.would be unbelievable if they had managed to keep that man alive, they
:18:05. > :18:10.had done all that and then through lack of a feeding tube... He was not
:18:11. > :18:16.able to eat and we put a tube into his stomach. Every patient that goes
:18:17. > :18:21.through trauma goes through a catabolic phase where you break
:18:22. > :18:24.down, you need protein, carbohydrates, fluid to continue the
:18:25. > :18:30.building up of the healing process and if you have not got any of those
:18:31. > :18:34.nutrients, then you are... Things will break down, your operation will
:18:35. > :18:38.break down, everything will break down. They showed me the photograph
:18:39. > :18:42.of him today and it is wonderful, but he has had no food for 24 hours
:18:43. > :18:58.and neither have the doctors. They said all they are
:18:59. > :19:02.having is super and water. We know tonight that there is no running
:19:03. > :19:04.water in Aleppo, what about the sale eyeing drips? There is no say line
:19:05. > :19:06.to resuscitate patients. If the patient comes in without any blood
:19:07. > :19:09.pressure, they need to resuscitate them with fluids and they do not
:19:10. > :19:12.have any. Apart from talking to these doctors, what is it that you
:19:13. > :19:14.are actually doing for them on so many different levels? When this
:19:15. > :19:19.operation happened, it was fantastic, it was a fantastic morale
:19:20. > :19:23.booster. They were happy, we got information that they were so happy,
:19:24. > :19:28.it went round the whole of Aleppo, everyone saw the film, they wanted
:19:29. > :19:35.more information, I started sending them books and we broke the siege by
:19:36. > :19:41.surgical aid. It was wonderful. This week has been a reversal. Do you
:19:42. > :19:46.feel about psychological impact you had, every time you speak to them,
:19:47. > :19:52.use break the siege? It is wonderful to be able to do that. I break the
:19:53. > :19:55.siege and they are happy and it is great. Do you think if the people
:19:56. > :19:59.who were making the decisions about what to do in Aleppo could see what
:20:00. > :20:03.was happening in these subterranean operating theatres, do you think
:20:04. > :20:09.there would be a different set of equations? Yes. Everyone is talking
:20:10. > :20:11.about the political aspects of Russia and America, but what is
:20:12. > :20:17.actually happening on the ground, these guys are working day and night
:20:18. > :20:21.to try and save civilian patients, children and everything else and it
:20:22. > :20:25.is a wonderful actor and if only people could see the humanitarian
:20:26. > :20:28.side, what they are doing is amazing. Thank you very much indeed.
:20:29. > :20:31.It would be a massive shock if Owen Smith were to be elected
:20:32. > :20:33.Labour leader tomorrow - but not impossible.
:20:34. > :20:35.However, it is almost certain that Jeremy Corbyn will win again,
:20:36. > :20:38.and then the battle to restore the party begins.
:20:39. > :20:40.But when one of Corbyn's main backers, the Unison boss
:20:41. > :20:43.Dave Prentis, writes in the Times today that Labour is unelectable -
:20:44. > :20:46.his exact words "Labour looks as far away from power and changing
:20:47. > :20:49.the country for the better than at any point in my lifetime",
:20:50. > :20:51.you know there is a Herculean task ahead.
:20:52. > :21:03.Here's our Political Editor Nick Watt.
:21:04. > :21:13.How will pan out,? There is widespread expectation that he will
:21:14. > :21:18.be re-elected. We will hold back from pronouncing on that until the
:21:19. > :21:22.envelope is opened. We have some idea of a meeting later on in the
:21:23. > :21:27.day and how that will go. There was a deadlock in a meeting earlier over
:21:28. > :21:31.the issue of whether Labour MPs should be entitled to elect members
:21:32. > :21:35.of the Shadow Cabinet and as I understand it, the non-Corbin forces
:21:36. > :21:39.are going to hold fire and not say a great deal and they are going to
:21:40. > :21:43.hope that Jeremy Corbyn will eventually think that in the spirit
:21:44. > :21:46.of his victory if he wins he should form a Shadow Cabinet including the
:21:47. > :22:09.likes of Yvette Cooper in the frame and
:22:10. > :22:13.to do that, he would have to allow Labour MPs to elect members to the
:22:14. > :22:16.Shadow Cabinet. Jeremy Corbyn is not expecting a great deal to happen at
:22:17. > :22:19.the NEC but here's hoping he gets a new mandate, he will be able to push
:22:20. > :22:22.gently for his idea that party members should have a say on who
:22:23. > :22:25.sits on the Shadow Cabinet. We thought we would take a look at the
:22:26. > :22:25.State of play in the party and here is my film.
:22:26. > :22:28.Until just a decade ago it bestrode the political stage.
:22:29. > :22:30.But the party which established the modern welfare
:22:31. > :22:35.As old battles are re-fought and debates turn into bitter personal
:22:36. > :22:41.For now, there is a lull in the fighting.
:22:42. > :22:44.Labour's warring factions have paused for breath as
:22:45. > :22:50.they wait to hear if Jeremy Corbyn has won.
:22:51. > :22:53.It is not since the 1930s, when the pacifist George Lansbury
:22:54. > :22:55.drew adoring crowds, that Labour has been
:22:56. > :23:00.led by such an unlikely Prime Ministerial figure.
:23:01. > :23:04.Three cheers for the international social democracy!
:23:05. > :23:11.But over two consecutive summers, Jeremy Corbyn has drawn
:23:12. > :23:13.similarly passionate crowds, prompting his admirers to say he is
:23:14. > :23:20.As the dust settles on this leadership contest,
:23:21. > :23:26.is now time to accept his authority, if he wins.
:23:27. > :23:29.I think it is going to be incredibly important that the
:23:30. > :23:31.Labour Party united behind whoever wins.
:23:32. > :23:34.I hope and believe it will be Jeremy Corbyn.
:23:35. > :23:39.decent 66-year-old man being mugged in broad
:23:40. > :23:43.daylight in cold blood by
:23:44. > :23:45.people who do not see that it is time for a change.
:23:46. > :23:48.Unity means listening on both sides but I am
:23:49. > :23:50.heartened by suggestions that people already are talking about coming
:23:51. > :23:56.There are all sorts of potential olive branches on offer.
:23:57. > :24:01.But it cannot just be a rhetorical olive branch.
:24:02. > :24:04.It has to be real, it has to be backed by action.
:24:05. > :24:07.The job of a leader is to stop bad things
:24:08. > :24:09.happening, not just to say, I am not accountable
:24:10. > :24:17.So it is about leading by example, it is about creating a culture where
:24:18. > :24:23.the leader's office and everybody around the leader and the
:24:24. > :24:26.PLP behave in a comradely way that shows we are a party of
:24:27. > :24:34.There are still deep doubts about Jeremy Corbyn among the
:24:35. > :24:38.172 Labour MPs who voted in favour of a no-confidence motion in the
:24:39. > :24:44.Leading figures are saying he would have to mend his
:24:45. > :24:48.ways before they would agree to rejoin his front bench.
:24:49. > :24:51.Well, we have got to change the approach and
:24:52. > :24:59.And that is the first task for whoever is elected leader tomorrow.
:25:00. > :25:02.I resigned from the Shadow Cabinet because not of policy differences
:25:03. > :25:06.but because of a fundamental disagreement with the sort of
:25:07. > :25:08.approach that says this is a battle, this is a war.
:25:09. > :25:12.And it must be won and dissenting voices must be silenced.
:25:13. > :25:15.I think a Shadow Cabinet can function and should function
:25:16. > :25:18.with policy disagreements, that is how you get the right answers.
:25:19. > :25:20.But a political party, a social movement,
:25:21. > :25:22.a Shadow Cabinet simply cannot survive if you refuse to hear
:25:23. > :25:25.dissenting voices and work as a team to try and resolve differences.
:25:26. > :25:30.Then it is not a Shadow Cabinet, it is
:25:31. > :25:34.One critic says there are two sides to the
:25:35. > :25:38.Like any movement it has a light side and a dark
:25:39. > :25:45.The challenge for the Labour Party is to harness that positive
:25:46. > :25:49.energy, it is fantastic that we have so many young people who have joined
:25:50. > :25:55.our party but there is a darker side of the movement.
:25:56. > :26:01.Which I think becomes more about a personality cult.
:26:02. > :26:03.While Jeremy Corbyn will be able to establish some
:26:04. > :26:07.form of front bench, his opponents are not giving up.
:26:08. > :26:10.They are fighting to ensure Corbyn supporters cannot win control
:26:11. > :26:16.It will be a battle between the heirs of Tony
:26:17. > :26:19.Benn, who wanted to increase the role of party members, and the
:26:20. > :26:23.custodians of Clause I of the Labour Party constitution.
:26:24. > :26:24.This stresses the importance of a
:26:25. > :26:30.Parliamentary Labour Party in seeking to form a government.
:26:31. > :26:34.That being a test, can we get into government?
:26:35. > :26:38.It certainly seems to have been accepted by the Jeremy
:26:39. > :26:40.Corbyn campaign this time round and that is good,
:26:41. > :26:46.Because I think it is important that we become a movement
:26:47. > :26:53.But our primary purpose is to get into government
:26:54. > :26:55.and that distinguishes us from NGOs or protest groups.
:26:56. > :26:57.One former frontbencher says voters are switched off
:26:58. > :27:04.We are stuck in an argument about how
:27:05. > :27:07.to wrest control of a machine without a real vision about what we
:27:08. > :27:13.There are real pressing debates going on in this
:27:14. > :27:16.country and at the moment, because we are locked
:27:17. > :27:18.in this internal war, Labour simply is not thinking
:27:19. > :27:21.We are not just failing to be an effective opposition, we're
:27:22. > :27:24.also failing to be an alternative to this Tory
:27:25. > :27:25.government and frankly it
:27:26. > :27:29.The public will not forgive us unless we stop arguing
:27:30. > :27:32.with each other and start to look outwards to the country.
:27:33. > :27:34.Some of Jeremy Corbyn's former comrades on
:27:35. > :27:42.the left believe the party is facing the worst crisis in its history.
:27:43. > :27:46.Jeremy, and I am sure he would be the first to concede this, is no
:27:47. > :27:51.But in addition, he never has attained, and I fear he won't,
:27:52. > :27:59.the stature of somebody who could be Prime Minister.
:28:00. > :28:07.We are facing the biggest crisis, I believe, that the party has faced,
:28:08. > :28:13.even compared with the Ramsay MacDonald defection, what was that,
:28:14. > :28:18.80 years ago or so, and the crisis that followed the 1979 defeat and
:28:19. > :28:23.the breakaway by the social Democratic party and the defection
:28:24. > :28:28.of significant numbers of Labour members and leaders. This is more
:28:29. > :28:33.serious. Corbyn's old friend Chris Mullin who has not supported his
:28:34. > :28:39.leadership believes that Corbyn has disproved the central thesis of his
:28:40. > :28:44.own landmark 1982 thriller. In a very British coup, the unseen state,
:28:45. > :28:49.ensured that a left-wing Labour leader would fail. It is not the
:28:50. > :28:52.unseen hand of the establishment that is seeking to undermine this,
:28:53. > :28:58.the establishment hardly need bother themselves because Labour is doing a
:28:59. > :29:03.pretty good job itself. The contortions in the Labour Party are
:29:04. > :29:10.even causing alarm amongst Tories. Of course, it looks at first sight
:29:11. > :29:14.as if it is to the advantage of one party if its main opponents are in
:29:15. > :29:18.the state of some disarray. Actually my experience is that the government
:29:19. > :29:22.does a better job of governing if it has an opposition keeping it on its
:29:23. > :29:26.toes and I hope the Labour Party, as it will, will eventually work its
:29:27. > :29:31.way back to a point were we are having a more sensible discussion.
:29:32. > :29:34.As the warring tribe gathers in Liverpool tonight, there is a
:29:35. > :30:01.growing realisation that Labour can ill afford a repeat of the
:30:02. > :30:05.last year and must push for a lease some semblance of unity. My
:30:06. > :30:07.messages, do not leave this party, do not quit it and splitting it
:30:08. > :30:10.would be disastrous. I think something very exciting has
:30:11. > :30:12.happened. I am one of hundreds of thousands of new members to the
:30:13. > :30:15.Labour Party in recent months and I would like members of the PLP, many
:30:16. > :30:17.of whom have been in the party all their lives, to feel encouraged by
:30:18. > :30:20.that and not threatened and hopefully we can bring all of these
:30:21. > :30:22.very exciting forces together and unite. Tomorrow in Liverpool, Labour
:30:23. > :30:25.will clear up the pieces and embark on the next age of its momentous
:30:26. > :30:27.journey, nobody has any clue of the destination. Our political editor.
:30:28. > :30:29.That's almost it for tonight, but before we go...
:30:30. > :30:32.The government has announced plans to re-classify all cars made before
:30:33. > :30:34.1977 as "classic" cars - meaning they are exempt from MOTs.
:30:35. > :30:37.This means that the humble Ford Cortina, once a mainstay
:30:38. > :30:39.of Britain's roads, will now be branded a collectors item.
:30:40. > :30:42.We leave you with Newsnight's homage to a new classic.
:30:43. > :30:56.# She gives him love on the leatherette.
:30:57. > :31:04.# But she only loves him because he's got a Cortina.
:31:05. > :31:15.# But she only loves him because he's got a Cortina.