The leadership contenders were to clash in the first set-piece debate of the campaign in Cardiff last night.
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Loud boos, cheers and heckling characterised Thursday’s meeting, the first of several debates ahead of a postal vote by members that will see the victor crowned on September 24.
“Jeremy Corbyn has been saying he’s the one trying to keep Labour united but Owen Smith has argued only he can lead Labour to an election victory”.
The former Labour frontbencher was accused by Mr Corbyn of having “walked away” when the party should be rallying its support and opposing the Conservatives. Membership has surged from barely 200,000 members in February previous year to 515,000 now.
But Smith, 46, has strong support among Labour MPs, who argue that Corbyn – a veteran anti-war and anti-nuclear campaigner who has never held high office – can not beat Prime Minister Theresa May’s governing centre-right Conservatives at the next election.
Referring to the crisis engulfing the party over antisemitism in its ranks, the Welsh MP said: “I ask you, Jeremy, how has this happened?”
One of the “Gang of Four” that left Labour to form the SDP in the 1980s said the party faced a “dismal future” and was in a worse state than when the first split happened.
Ten people were chosen at random to speak in support of Mr Corbyn and Mr Smith, five on behalf of each candidate.
But Mr Corbyn is expected to claim everyone can have “richer” lives and detail how he believes he can transform the country alongside the party.
They are Christine Evangelou, Rev Edward Lair, Hannah Fordham, Chris Granger and “FM”, a new member aged under 18 who is bringing an additional challenge through his mother on the grounds of age discrimination.
Officers said they became aware of the protest at about 10.30am.
She is less concerned about his electability.
“And we have got to carry the fight to the Tories much more rigorously than we have done in recent months”.
Corbyn concluded: “As we build towards a general election we offer an alternative, a different way of doing things, where you ignore nobody, you forget nobody, you build a sense of inclusion, of decency, and moral respect within our society”.
But since losing to the Conservatives in 2010, and again a year ago, the party has struggled with its identity.
Corbyn is favorite to hold onto his job after the contest was forced by lawmakers unhappy with his leadership and in particular his performance in the European Union referendum and its aftermath, when he called for the immediate start of the formal process for leaving the bloc.
“When he came along the socialist, anti-austerity agenda was very welcome”.
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Given existing plans and direction we are seeing broadband coverage move in the United Kingdom, one can only assume that the speech writer really meant to say we will invest in more Fibre to the Premises to catch up with other European countries.
