The Pontypridd MP, who resigned as Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said working on the front bench under Mr Corbyn was “futile” as he is not capable of winning the next election.
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A Jeremy for Labour spokesman described Mr Watson’s claims as “baseless conspiracy theories” which patronise members.
Shadow Scottish Secretary Dave Anderson said any split between United Kingdom and Scottish Labour would be “detrimental” to the entire party.
Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) decided on July 12 – referred to as the “freeze date” – that full members would not be able to vote if they had not enjoyed continuous party membership for at least six months.
He suggested that there was a replay of the 1980s, when Labour attracted big crowds to Michael Foot meetings, only to go down to heavy defeat at a general election.
Mr Corbyn retorted: “I think people should wear the t-shirts they want to”.
“It fuels a climate of distrust and I don’t think that that is where we should be”. Not because they were bullied into it by Trotskyist entryists. Sooner or later, that always ends up in disaster.
The union, the third biggest affiliated to the party, asked its 600,000-plus members if they wanted to support Mr Smith or Jeremy Corbyn.
Smith slammed Corbyn’s style of leadership, saying he had been “long on slogans and long on rhetoric and short on policies and short on solution”.
Rhea Wolfson, one of a slate of left-leaning new NEC members, appeared to threaten anti-Corbyn MPs with mandatory reselection to address the “important disconnect” between the parliamentary party and rank-and-file members.
“I will make us once more a powerful opposition”.
In an interview with Britain’s Jewish Chronicle, Mitchell said there had been a “hijack” of the party by the far left and expressed hope that British Jews would back his stance.
The lights failed at the U.K. Labour leadership contest’s second debate, plunging party leader Jeremy Corbyn and challenger Owen Smith into darkness as they clashed over nuclear weapons and Britain’s strategy in negotiations to leave the European Union.
Speaking to the Yorkshire Post exclusively, Mr Smith: “I’ve said we should extend the contest by a couple of weeks in light of the High Court ruling in order to make sure that’s clear”.
But the High Court declared that refusing them the vote would be an unlawful breach of the party’s contract with members as set out in the rule book.
“Jeremy can’t do that and that’s why we need to change the leader of the Labour party”.
Many of his own MPs felt Mr Corbyn, who won a landslide victory to become Labour leader a year ago, had not campaigned vigorously enough for a “Remain” vote.
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But the deputy leader has hit back by sending Corbyn a letter and evidence which he claims backs up his comments.
