Jeremy Corbyn dismisses claims Labour being 'infiltrated' by left-wing activists

Left-wing people? In the Labour Party? What next?

The Labour leadership contenders (Getty)

Calls from a Labour MP to call off the leadership contest have been widely dismissed - by pretty much everybody - after he claimed that left-wing activists have been infiltrating the party in order to vote for Jeremy Corbyn.

John Mann, the MP for Bassetlaw, claimed that the party is seeing an influx of new members and registered supporters, all of whom will be eligible to vote in the contest that ends in September.

Mr Mann told the Sunday Times that he felt the contest was "totally out of control", and was insistent that acting leader Ms Harman should step in and ensure a more rigorous process of vetting new applications could be implemented.

"It should be halted," he wrote in a letter to Harman. "It is becoming a farce with long-standing members ... in danger of getting trumped by people who have opposed the Labour Party and want to break it up.”

Harriet Harman will dismiss Mann's request, stating that processes are in place to ensure integrity in the contest.

Leadership hopefuls, including Andy Burnham, have also rubbished Mann’s claims.

“If John has evidence then he needs to send it to the Labour Party,” Burnham told Sky’s Murnaghan programme, “but we’re in the middle of a debate that is actually now finally capturing attention and I think that’s a good thing because I think the party needs to have this debate and then decide its future direction.”

Jeremy Corbyn, has also played down Mann's claims, arguing that attracting more members and getting people excited about politics is precisely what the party should be doing.

“What is there not to like about young people turning up and being interested in politics? What it’s about is converting Labour into much more of a social movement.”

He also addressed Mann’s fears directly, saying: “I only want people to register as Labour supporters if they are genuine Labour supporters and intend to stay for the longer course."

“Surely the idea of joining a political party just to vote in a leadership election is a bit limited and we should go a bit further. The entryism I see is a lot of young people hitherto not really excited by politics coming in for the first time and saying we can have a discussion – we can discuss our debts and housing problems.”

Since May the party has gained 60,000 new members, 22,000 registered supporters paying £3 and about 60,000 affiliated union supporters, many from the Unite union.

People outside Labour's inner circle have been quick to respond too.

Even left wing party Left Unity decided to wade in on the debate.

The leadership campaign continues, for now.