Jeremy Corbyn’s allies been warned they could kill off Labour in Scotland if they sink a key part of Kezia Dugdale’s flagship ‘autonomy’ plans later today.
A crunch vote is due to take place this morning, after the Scottish Labour leader successfully fought off a fifth challenge to her proposals yesterday.
Last night Mr Corbyn appeared to concede defeat saying that he thought the reforms would be backed by delegates at Labour’s annual party conference in Liverpool.
But sources close to Ms Dugdale said that they expected another last-ditch wrecking attempt today.
Labour’s only Scottish MP yesterday (MON) warned that blocking the plans could lead to the demise of the party in Scotland.
Edinburgh MP Ian Murray said that the turf war over the new rules could result in the Scottish party "shutting down".
Mr Corbyn’s supporters fear plans to create new Scottish and Welsh seats could swing the balance against him on the party’s powerful ruling National Executive Committee (NEC).
Under the current proposals the representatives would be appointed by Ms Dugdale and her Welsh counterpart Carwyn Jones.
Neither are natural Corbyn supporters and supported his rival Owen Smith in the recent leadership election.
Unions, including Unite, whose boss Len McCluskey is an ally of Mr Corbyn, have argued that the seats should be elected democratically by Labour members.
Mr Murray said that any attempt to water down the current package of changes would be an assault on Scottish Labour’s plans for greater autonomy.
He said that the now infamous "branch office" tag, coined by former Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont, had "completely destroyed" the party north of the Border.
"If certain people on the NEC run a campaign to vote these rules down tomorrow they are in danger of not just not helping the Scottish Labour party, they are in danger of shutting the Scottish Labour party down," he added.
Labour lost 40 out of 41 Westminster seats to the SNP at last year’s General Election.
But Mr Murray told delegates that Labour could not afford to jettison the Scottish party.
Labour lost last year’s General Election because David Cameron set Scottish nationalism against English nationalism, he said.
Others have predicted that without a revival in Scottish Labour’s fortunes the party will have to win the safe Tory seat of Kensington in London to secure the keys to Downing Street.
Ms Dugdale’s allies point to the fact that the Scottish seat proposal is part of a set of reforms that also includes a £100,000 fund to encourage more working-class candidates.
Mr Corbyn yesterday lost an early morning bid to separate the planned new seats from the other changes.
The bid was rebuffed at a 7.30 am meeting of the NEC, after a "powerful” speech by the Welsh First Minister.
He told the committee the changes were necessary to shake off a similar "branch office” tag in Wales.
Another bid to unstitch the package on the floor of the conference was also voted down.
A further meeting of the NEC planned this morning has been postponed until tonight.
But there could still be another challenge to Ms Dugdale's proposals from the conference floor, before they go to a vote.
A source said the decision not to hold an NEC meeting before thevote was a sign that "any attempts to unpick the package have failed so far".
Mr McCluskey has said that his union, Labour’s largest donor, believes that “there should be a seat for Scotland and Wales on the NEC, but we believe that it should be an elected seat.”
He said there was a “confusion” over what “appointed by the leader” meant.
Yesterday the Unite boss told Labour MPs to get behind Mr Corbyn or 'depart the battlefield'.
If passed, the autonomy reforms would give Ms Dugdale more control than any other Scottish Labour leader in history.
Under the proposed changes the Scottish party would be in charge of Westminster candidate selection in Scotland and policy for the first time.
The proposals are the result months of work by Ms Dugdale.
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