Jeremy Corbyn has predicted he will be Prime Minister within six months and said he wanted to scrap Trident "as soon as I can", it was claimed last night.

The Labour leader's unguarded comments, apparently made backstage, were revealed by Glastonbury festival founder Michael Eavis who took questions from an audience today.

Mr Corbyn received a rapturous reception from fans as he spoke from the Pyramid Stage on Saturday, capping an extraordinary turnaround in his fortunes over the past three weeks.

But he may have revealed more than he intended to in the private chat with Mr Eavis who said: "Wasn't he fantastic?"

"I said to him, 'When are you going to be prime minister?' He said, 'In six months.'"


Mr Eavis said he had asked Corbyn: "When are you going to get rid of Trident?" And added: "He said, 'As soon as I can,'" according to the Somerset Live website.

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The 81-year-old host of the festival made his comments at a Q&A at the Speakers Forum in the Green Futures area of Glastonbury.

The Labour leader included the policy to back renewal of Trident in his election manifesto in recognition of the fact that it is the party's policy to keep the nuclear deterrent.

But he is a long-standing supporter of unilateral nuclear disarmament, and his comments will concern many in the party who suspect he could try to force a change in party policy.

Image: Jeremy Corbyn (R) and Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis

Any such move would be difficult to get past the party's conference, in view of opposition from Mr Corbyn's trade union backers. Renewal of the four submarines was backed by a free vote in Parliament last year, by a large majority of MPs.

Mr Corbyn suggested Labour were the winners of the 8 June vote, saying: "It is pretty clear who has won this election."

He said that the Conservatives had lost and that Labour - which did not secure enough seats to form a working majority with other parties - was "ready to serve."

He has since declared to Unison members this weekend that he would look to "challenge this Government at every step and try to force an early General Election" and claimed that it was "ludicrous" to suggest Theresa May could stay in power.

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A member of the audience asked for Mr Eavis's thoughts about the increasing numbers of young voters who turned out in the 2017 General Election, helping Labour make gains.

Mr Eavis said: "Why didn't they vote in the referendum? [Corbyn supporters group] Momentum should have done more to persuade them to vote."

Mr Corbyn presented him with a signed copy of the Labour manifesto during his appearance. Mr Eavis told Glastonbury's own newspaper he was "thrilled" with Labour's result at the General Election.

"Millions of young people, Glastonbury people, voted for him," Mr Eavis said. "I think he has a fundamental sense of justice, of real political change, of being anti-war and anti-nuclear. That's what we've spent our lives campaigning for too."

Image: Crowds gave the Labour leader a warm welcome

A Labour source said the remarks may have been "paraphrased" by Mr Eavis, adding: "Jeremy Corbyn has made clear he is keen to fight the next election which it is speculated could be in the next six months.

"Renewal of Trident was in the Labour party's manifesto which Jeremy was proud to stand on. He has made clear he is committed to nuclear non-proliferation. No one person can change party policy, it is a done through a process."