Labour crisis: Thousands join Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell at emergency rally

Thousands of pro-Jeremy Corbyn activists gathered in Parliament Square on Monday night (27 June) to voice their support for the Labour leader as he faces a coup attempt.

The left-winger addressed the emergency rally, organised by pressure group Momentum, alongside shadow chancellor John McDonnell and Diane Abbott, who was promoted to shadow health secretary in Corbyn's shadow cabinet reshuffle.

The Labour leader, who was elected to the top job after attracting almost 60% of the vote in a 2015 election, said: "When we won the leadership election last year, we came to this very same spot to speak up for the rights of refugees to live in our society.

"One of the horrible disfigurements of our society is racism, is intolerance and the violence that is often associated with it. Sadly, this has increased over the last few days. Can we all agree we are going to unite together as one people, one society and one community to oppose racism in any form?"

He added: "We don't need the blame culture, we need the unite culture of working together for the social justice to which we all aspire."

The demonstration was planned to coincide with the weekly meeting of Labour's parliamentary party after a string of shadow cabinet ministers quit in protest against the sacking of Hilary Benn as shadow foreign secretary and in reaction to the EU referendum result.

Corbyn and Labour, despite a handful of MPs, had campaigned for a Remain vote. But many of the party's heartlands across England and Wales backed a Brexit at the 23 June vote. Labour deputy leader Tom Watson with Corbyn on Monday to warn him that he could face a leadership challenge, a source close to the Labour leader's office told IBTimes UK.

Corbyn has vowed to stay on and run in any Labour leadership election. The left-winger, who was first elected to parliament in 1983, faces a vote of no confidence from Labour MPs on 28 June. Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said: "If there was any right time to back the labour party leader, it is now. But it's not just the right time – it is critical."

Other trade unions, such as Unite and Unison, have also shown their support for Corbyn – a significant move since they are some of the top donors to the Labour Party.