Salman Shaheen of the pro-Corbyn group, Momentum, which has been highly vocal in its support for the current leader, said he was very proud that the Constituency Labour Party stood behind Mr. Corbyn.
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Asked how he would unite the party if he won, Corbyn said he would ask Labour MPs to “come on board” and recognise his victory and his 10-point plan.
“He said it”, Mr Smith said.
Smith’s key argument in areas where both men seemed to agree in principle was about leadership and the electibility of the party.
Brentford & Isleworth constituency Labour Party members voted by nearly 2-1 in favour of retaining Jeremy Corbyn as leader last night (Wednesday August 10th).
He said Labour was at 26% in the polls, its lowest point since 1982, and Mr Corbyn “cannot lead us back to power”.
“But I would serve Labour on the backbenches, because I am Labour to my bones and I will always be Labour”.
“I don’t think Jeremy has provided numerous answers we need”.
According to the TNS BMRB survey, 44 per cent of people think Theresa May is a better leader for Britain than Jeremy Corbyn (16 per cent). “You’ve been saying it for forty years”.
Mr Corbyn said that was “genuinely disappointing to me” as he had been pleased when Mr Smith became shadow work and pensions secretary a year ago: “I would’ve thought you would want to continue that kind of work”.
However, he said the Chilcott report into the Iraq War made “pretty sobering reading” and said he would preside over “a different, less aggressive foreign policy”, if he became Prime Minister.
“He said last week he didn’t say it but we all know he did”.
In contrast, Mr Corbyn gave his closing remarks to huge applause as he called for a new housing policy, re-nationalisation of the railways and a national minimum wage of £10 “that means something”.
Mr Corbyn, who campaigned for Remain during the referendum campaign, asked his opponent if he “can read minds”. It has just been revealed the UK’s third largest union, the GMB, has backed Smith. In contrast, over half (51 per cent) of those surveyed said JeremyCorbyn is not performing in his job as leader of the Labour Party.
Mr Corbyn said he could “never say never” as there have been wars of liberation which should have been fought.
Dozens of Corbyn’s frontbench team, including Smith, quit their posts in the wake of the Brexit vote, citing a loss of confidence in Corbyn’s ability to sway the electorate.
Mr Coleman resigned after a row with chief spinner Seumas Milne amid rumours of fierce internal fighting within the Labour leader’s camp.
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However, a source at Momentum, the grassroots movement set up to support Corbyn, and which Watson suggested was operating “entryist” tactics, said of Taaffe: “He is hostile to our party and has been openly talking about splitting it”.
