“Unfortunately the Labour Party is the butt of that joke and everyone has stopped laughing”.
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“[The race] will be a democratic debate about the future of our country – where we set out the alternative Labour is offering under my leadership and our plan for government”, the Labour leader said in a statement last night.
Last year, shortly after Corbyn won an overwhelming mandate from Labour party members, Foster stood at the back of a Labour Party conference fringe meeting in Brighton shouting: “Say the word “Israel, ‘ say the word ‘Israel, ‘” after Corbyn addressed LFI supporters”.
But the atmosphere between the Labour leader’s supporters and most of his parliamentary party has become so sulphurous that his words are likely to have little impact on either side.
A second former aide of beleaguered Labour party chief Jeremy Corbyn came forward today as a potential candidate to replace the opposition leader who is facing calls for his ouster in the wake of the Brexit vote.
He said: “And then we should give them another chance”.
On Monday the former shadow secretary of state announced her formal leadership bid by reiterating her belief that Corbyn cannot win a general election.
“But I think a lot of people I know are now saying to themselves, ‘It wasn’t the right decision.’ A lot of people are angry that they were quite clearly misled by the Brexit campaign”.
The Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) ruled that Corbyn could automatically appear on the ballot without any support for nomination from 51 lawmakers.
Sky’s Chief Political Correspondent Jon Craig said: “I haven’t seen Mr Corbyn look this cheerful for a few weeks”.
Image caption Owen Smith: “I can heal this party”.
Smith added: “We need to negotiate right now, I don’t think we should accept that we’re on a definite path out”.
She said: “He was elected 10 months ago with a huge mandate from Labour members, so it would have been very undemocratic not to allow him to be on the ballot”.
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Asked how the pair would decide who commands the most support and take on Mr Corbyn, he suggested the candidate with the largest number of nominations could be the challenger.
