Three-quarters of Labour MPs backed a vote of no confidence in Corbyn on June 28, accusing him of lacklustre leadership in the campaign which culminated with many longtime Labour voters in underprivileged areas defying the party line and backing Brexit.
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He accused some on the right of the party of acting in a way which could “split” Labour.
“Mr McDonnell and Mr Corbyn have claimed to be in favour of straight talking and honest politics”.
Easington MP and chair of Labour Left, Grahame Morris, who is a Corbyn supporter, re-posted a Tweet from Mr Corbyn’s team’s official account, which said: “Jeremy is on the ballot paper, I repeat Jeremy is on the ballot paper”.
Tensions in the Labour Party escalated further as the Unite union called for the mandatory re-selection of all MPs.
Michael Foster, whose family has given £400,000 to the Labour Party, said he was concerned over the “apparent manipulation” of party rules by the ruling body, the National Executive Committee (NEC).
After Angela Eagle announced her candidature on Monday, Owen Smith joined the fray on Wednesday.
Shadow business secretary Ms Eagle has launched a leadership challenge against Mr Corbyn, which triggered a new Labour leadership contest.
Former shadow cabinet minister Owen Smith has declared he will challenge Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership, saying he was “not prepared to stand by” and let the party split. Corbyn too will be a candidate in the election expected to be rolled out in the coming months before the opposition party’s annual conference in September.
“They feel it has betrayed the members who elected Jeremy Corbyn”.
“The NEC has agreed that as the incumbent leader Jeremy Corbyn will go forward onto the ballot without requiring nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party and the European Parliamentary Labour Party”, a party spokesperson said.
She referred to rules that come into force for two days next week and will allow non-party members to register and become supporters in exchange for a fee of £25.
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Passions are running high in the party, and a brick was thrown through the window of Eagle’s constituency office. Smith said he had made a decision to stand after seeing a “dramatic collapse of faith and confidence in Jeremy” over the last couple of weeks.
