The Daily Mail has reported on a PinkNews Live Q&A with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on LGBT issues… without ever mentioning anything LGBT-related.
Advertisement
But his comments come after a YouGov poll for The Times, of more than 1,200 people eligible to vote in the Labour leadership contest, put Smith 24 points behind Corbyn (62% versus 38%). “Recognising the collective effort required in parliament, any candidate who can not get the backing of 15 per cent of the people they will lead clearly will not have the credibility to unite a parliamentary team and provide an effective opposition to the Tories”.
Owen Smith unveiled a dummy Conservative Party manifesto for the 2020 general election this morning (5 September), with a warning that Labour faces a “watershed moment”.
By contrast, among Labour voters more broadly, 23 per cent believed the theory was credible, while just 19 per cent of the broader electorate said the same.
Mr Betts said in an email before the debate that he wanted to promote party unity.
And Washington and Sunderland West MP Sharon Hodgson said there was a question over whether Mr Corbyn, the party leader who is standing for re-election, might be guilty of doing the same thing.
An unencumbered Conservative Party would impose measures, including a “massive expansion of grammar schools, further extending the use of the private sector in the NHS, the effective end of social housing and the use of the Brexit negotiations to dismantle hard won workers’ rights”.
Elsewhere, Ed Balls, the former shadow chancellor, branded Ed Miliband’s decision to let Labour supporters pay £3 and vote in the leadership contest a “catastrophic mistake”.
“How the Shadow Cabinet is made up is one part of that debate, including whether part of it should be elected, by MPs, by members, or by conference”.
“Jeremy supports democratisation and reform of the party rules and structures”, the spokesperson said.
But there are concerns the plan could serve to undermine Mr Corbyn, since he has scant support in the PLP.
Advertisement
Today Corbyn indicated an interest in allowing the wider Labour movement to have a say in some of the appointments to shadow Cabinet – a move which could offset any power grab by MPs.
