Revealed: How Jeremy Corbyn's Aides Struggled to Put Him at the Heart of the Anti-Brexit Campaign

It was a brief exchange in a London hallway, captured by chance on camera – but it has shed new light on Jeremy Corbyn's enthusiasm for the pro-Europe Remain campaign.

As far back as April, Corbyn's inner circle was trying to bridge a rift in the Labour party by establishing a "high energy, high opt-in, Jeremy-at-the-heart-of-it-campaign" backed by chair of Labour in for Britain, Alan Johnson. Whether Corbyn would get on board was unclear.

The footage was captured by VICE News in the making of our documentary about the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn: The Outsider. It shows head of events Kat Fletcher planning a pro-Remain campaign with Johnson that was apparently conceived by Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell – a key ally of Corbyn (and one who was later accused of undermining the pro-Remain cause).

Fletcher tells Johnson that McDonnell "is up for a mass, high energy, high volume, pro-EU campaign. Which I'm up for as well. So I actually think it's worth having a conversation about it in order to make the things that fall in line." It will be a "high energy, high opt-in, Jeremy-at-the-heart-of-it campaign", she adds.

Johnson says that they too are aiming for a "high opt-in Labour party campaign".

"We're not planning on low opt-in, low profile," he says. "We want Jeremy out there."

At the end of the exchange, Johnson asks Fletcher: "And you can make it happen with Jeremy?"

Fletcher hesitates and responds: "[It's] Beyond me."

"I am doing my best," she adds, "but I need help, right?"

Johnson replies that Kat will have "all the help we can give you".

The truce did not last. Three days ago Johnson – not exactly known for briefing against his own party – labelled the referendum result "disastrous" and accused the Leader's Office of "working against the rest of the Party". In a letter to colleagues he continued to tear into Corbyn, describing his approach as "lukewarm" and his performance as "risible".

The official line from the leader's office is that "Jeremy and his team worked hard to deliver his message of remain and reform." But critics of Corbyn say Fletcher's comments add to evidence that this is not the case.

"I get the impression that [Fletcher] thinks it's going to be very difficult to get Jeremy and John all lined up to run a fully engaged pro-EU campaign," said Chris Bryant MP, who reviewed the footage.

"All too often Jeremy – and for that matter John McDonnell as well – effectively undermined the Remain campaign either by ineptitude or by the arguments they were putting or sometimes by directly attacking the Remain campaign."

The footage, dated 14th April, was recorded in a hallway in Senate House after Corbyn had given a speech urging supporters to embrace the EU "warts and all". None of the parties present are visible in the clip, but they are audible. A Labour source, who was present for some of the discussion, confirmed that it took place between the named parties.

A spokesperson for Labour's leader's office said: "Jeremy Corbyn led the Labour In campaign calling for Remain and reform. It was Jeremy Corbyn's campaign, clearly laying out the case for reform of the EU that resonated with Labour voters who voted for Remain by a ratio of two to one."

Additional reporting Simon Ostrovsky

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