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Labour will be beating the Tories in the polls within one year, John McDonnell has declared.

The Shadow Chancellor claimed Labour will wipe out the Conservatives' leads of up to 17 points once it "gets past" splits over invoking Article 50 to trigger Brexit .

Some 47 MPs rebelled last week and voted against Article 50 - with more set to rebel in a final vote on Wednesday.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live Labour's poor performances in polls would improve once the party had more airtime for its core issues like the NHS.

He added: "The last 18 months we’ve spent half of them in leadership elections.

"People won’t vote for a divided party, we know that, and that’s why we’re behind in the polls.

Below: Poll of polls since May 2015 by Britain Elects

"Once we get past Brexit we’ll unite the Labour party , we’ll be back on our agenda, and you’ll see I think that we'll have a significant impact on the political debate in this country which means we’ll go back in front of the Tories in the polls over the next year.

"That's what I think most of the Labour party members are actually campaigning for and support.

"We'll be on the Labour agenda of protecting our economy. They [the Tories] are preparing for a fight even though they've papered over the cracks at the moment."

Reports suggest 7,000 Labour members have abandoned the party after it committed to voting for Article 50.

But Mr McDonnell told the Independent: "Members come and go. It’s renewals that are the big thing at the moment.”

(Image: Andy Commins)

Mr McDonnell said Labour's chief whip has yet to decide whether to sack 10 frontbenchers and 3 whips who rebelled over Article 50 last week.

And the shadow cabinet is yet to decide if it will impose a whip on the final Article 50 vote, due on Wednesday night.

Asked if Diane Abbott would be included in shadow cabinet members expected to resign if they oppose a three-line whip, he told BBC Radio 5 Live: "If it's a three-line whip the convention is, if you can't support it, you resign. And that applies to everybody - that includes me."

(Image: PA)

Shadow Home Secretary Ms Abbott faced calls to quit after she missed the first vote due to a migraine - hours after speaking in a Commons debate.

Mr McDonnell's optimistic view came within minutes of former acting leader Harriet Harman sounding a bleak warning over the party's future.

She warned there were "painful echoes of the 1980s" and the party is "divided".

She rejected any idea of a left-wing coalition, saying that had been suggested during Labour's previous woes, but "actually what it needed was for Labour to get its act together instead of shouting at the public and telling the public where they were getting it wrong."

(Image: Sky)

"We are not in the situation we want to be and we really need to sort ourselves out," Ms Harman added.

She denied Labour was "unelectable" but said: "I think you can't be an effective opposition if you haven't got enough public support because the government doesn't need to worry about you.

"We do need more public support in order to be an effective opposition, let alone a credible alternative government."

"It's no good having the right arguments or just speaking very loudly. You have to have the public on your side."