Corbyn, who launched his leadership campaign earlier on Thursday, also said securing access to European markets would be a key party of any Brexit deal, but he also wanted to see some freedom of movement retained.
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ST HELENS South and Whiston MP has backed Owen Smith in the Labour leadership contest saying she believes he is the best choice to heal the “great schism” in the party.
Labour has received more than 180,000 applications over the past 48 hours to sign up as registered supporters with a right to vote in the upcoming leadership election.
Promising “radical” new policies, former shadow work and pensions secretary Mr Smith was due to add: “A key part of that vision for Labour’s future must be to show that we not only understand the struggles people face, but have the passion, energy and ideas to give them hope for the future”.
In an combative performance, she also sought to highlight Labour differences over Trident, pointedly praising the 141 Labour MPs who “put the national interest first” and voted in favour of renewing the nuclear deterrent in Monday’s Commons vote.
Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal.
Before applications closed, Mr Smith told Sky News he had offered to make Jeremy Corbyn the party’s president or chairman in an attempt to get him to step down.
“To those that may not agree with me politically or may not even like me personally I hold out the hand of friendship to them all”.
Corbyn criticised the proposal to act as a left-wing figurehead as “a job that doesn’t exist” and likened it to that of a football manager being moved from pitchside to a role in the boardroom.
Just 10 months after winning a landslide victory in a party leadership election on the back of a surge in grassroots support for his left-wing agenda, Corbyn faces another long summer of campaigning after his elected lawmakers last week launched a bid to depose him.
“I suspect there are many members on the Opposition benches who might be familiar with an unscrupulous boss”, she said, eyeing the Labour benches.
“We can’t deny the facts that this wasn’t something we saw in the Labour party before Jeremy Corbyn became leader”.
Mr Smith said he would have Mr Jones sit in a shadow cabinet with metropolitan English leaders and the Scottish Labour leader.
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“We need to have a strong and united Labour Party so that we can be a good opposition, take the fight to the Conservative government and heal our country”. I don’t think he feels he can bring the party back together.
