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A dramatic new charge has been laid at Jeremy Corbyn's door today - he's trying to "rig the election".

The accusation on the front page of a national newspaper reignites a big row over a review of Westminster's 650 seat boundaries.

Constitution Minister Chris Skidmore, who's in charge of the reform, said Labour's "gerrymandering... threatens to taint any election result."

In other words, Labour is trying to stitch up an election result - a pretty shocking claim in one of the world's oldest democracies.

So what's the row about, and do the Tories' claims actually stand up to scrutiny? Here's a quick explanation.

What's this all about?

(Image: Getty)

Independent Boundary Commissions are drawing up plans to cut 650 Westminster seats down to 600, redrawing the whole electoral map.

The aim is to end a "rigged system" by ensuring all seats are roughly the same size (71,031 to 78,507 people).

At the moment, some seats have far more 'voters per MP' than others - meaning their vote, basically, counts for less.

But it'll kick off a vicious game of musical chairs as MPs from safe seats that no longer exist battle to cling to a smaller pool of jobs.

The latest process has been rumbling on since 2016. Final recommendations are due in September 2018 before a vote on the plans in the House of Commons.

Do Labour oppose the review?

Yes. At the moment, it looks like Labour would vote 'no'.

(Image: PA)

Why?

It's thought the review will hit Labour seats harder than Tory ones.

Research suggests the Tories could have won an outright majority in 2017 under a reformed system.

So of course, Tories say that's why Labour want this shake-up ditched - turkeys don't vote for Christmas after all.

The Tories say the current system is biased in favour of Labour, because many smaller seats are in cities.

But it's not all that simple

Labour are not opposing the idea of a boundary review completely... despite Mr Skidmore suggesting so.

The party has instead called for the review to be based on up-to-date voting figures, and to keep the overall number of MPs at 650.

Labour MP Afzal Khan has even put forward a Private Member's Bill in the House of Commons to do this.

Because there are a lot of problems

The boundary review has its share of problems, very few of which are to do with Labour.

Here are a few of them - plus reasons why "rigging" isn't just an accusation that could be pointed at Labour.

1. The review could 'rig the election' too... but AGAINST young voters

(Image: REUTERS)

Because it's been rumbling on so long, the boundary review is based on figures that are hopelessly out of date.

In England, it measures everything based on the 37.3million people who were registered to vote on 1 December 2015.

But since then we've had a surge of 2million new voters - bringing the total to 39.3million by June 2017.

The theory is that many of them will be young city-dwellers or students who are more likely to vote for Jeremy Corbyn 's Labour.

Under the current plans, these 2million people will be totally invisible when seats are redrawn.

So a seat that supposedly has 75,000 people could actually have 85,000 or 90,000 that didn't show up on the register.

In other words - the system would now be rigged against them.

(Critics say a change now would mean halting and restarting the long review process, stringing it out and costing millions in taxpayer cash).

2. It's not just Labour that want to block it

(Image: AFP)

The argument being made is that by voting against the boundary review, Labour will block it.

But, er, Labour doesn't have a majority in the House of Commons.

Jeremy Corbyn would need some unusual allies to beat the boundary review - and that's just what he could have.

The DUP , who prop up Theresa May's government, have criticised the review, which would reportedly cut their 10 seats down to 7.

The Lib Dems also want the "dead duck" plan scrapped and the SNP say the plans are "completely unacceptable".

If the plans are blocked, it could be the DUP - not Labour - that tip the balance. And if they're amended to suit the DUP, wouldn't that be 'rigging the election' too?

3. Remember what happened last time

(Image: Getty Images)

David Cameron 's government tried to shake up the boundaries too, but was defeated in 2013.

Four Tory backbenchers rebelled to vote against the plan - including one David Davis, who is now the Brexit Secretary.

Was he trying to rig the election?

There's another point too.

The plans failed because David Cameron's Lib Dem Coalition allies turned on him when he dropped plans to reform the House of Lords.

Few people could escape the irony of this, since the unelected Lords - which Cameron packed with Tory cronies - are branded a "rigged" system too.

4. What about all the other 'rigging' by the Tories?

(Image: REUTERS)

All this is without mentioning the various times the Tories have been accused of rigging the system.

They are launching plans to make voters show ID, which Labour says will disenfranchise the hard-up or poorly-educated, despite there being little record of voter fraud in the past.

They've refused calls to change our current "winner-takes-all" voting system of First Past the Post. Despite it, well, rigging the system against small parties like the Greens, Lib Dems and UKIP.

They were forced to shelve plans to slash 19% from opposition party funding after an outcry.

And in Parliament, they have guaranteed themselves a majority on key committees and failed to act on non-binding motions to raise NHS pay, pause the Universal Credit rollout, or freeze student fees.

5. And finally... this could still be dropped altogether

Before Mr Skidmore's article today, it was thought the Tories might drop the boundary review to avoid an embarrassing defeat.

That thought was wrong - for now - because the ministers have come out fighting.

But a lot could change between now and September.

If the plans are dropped in future - and lord knows Theresa May has made a few U-turns before - will the Tories accuse themselves of rigging the election too?