My friends, many of whom were once ardent supporters of Corbyn now murmur glumly that, “Well, maybe principles aren’t enough when you’ve got a man who can’t even get his MPs behind him”.
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The one-time favourite to be the next Labour leader took Mr Corbyn to task on “egregious” foreign policy as well as accusing left-wing politicians of a lack of imagination on domestic issues.
In the wake of Labour’s failed campaign to keep Britain in the European Union, his party has collapsed into two warring factions: those who want Jeremy Corbyn to stay on as leader, and those who want him out at all costs.
However, challenger Mr Smith, former shadow work and pensions secretary, has said a victory for Mr Corbyn would only divide the party.
In a statement following the close of polls, Mr Corbyn said: ‘As far as I am concerned, the slate will be wiped clean this weekend. Our job now is to unite as a party & hold the Tories to account.
“He’s younger and I think he’s more media savvy and I think he’s more flexible about the way he would conduct the leadership, with a bigger emphasis on winning the election”, she said.
Mr Mann, who is frequently an outspoken member of the Labour benches, said Mr Smith’s only offer was to be not Jeremy Corbyn.
A video produced by Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour leadership campaign team and which appeared to dismiss accusations of antisemitism has been withdrawn after an angry response from British Jews.
Corbyn was elected past year and has strong support from the party grassroots.
Mr Corbyn won last year’s leadership race with 59.5% of the vote – and is widely tipped to win again.
“I just hope everybody will pull together to gear the party up for fighting a general election”, urged Ms Clwyd, who also served as chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party.
Owen Smith, she believes, will be able to re-unite the party despite all their troubles, and continue his time in office without a re-election being called due to public upset.
Some Labour lawmakers have said they are thinking about creating a new centre-left party although analysts say most will do everything to avoid this.
Also this week, as Labour members turn their attention to the party’s annual conference, Yvette Cooper tells us she is pushing for more to be done by the party leadership to tackle the tone of the debate within the party which has often turned abusive, whether online or offline. “Our party is at a crossroads, and the choice we face is between renewing our party to pursue unity and power, or satisfying ourselves with ongoing division and opposition”, said Smith, who was far behind Corbyn in a YouGov poll published in August.
But some are waiting for Corbyn to agree MPs will have a say in future Shadow Cabinets, before agreeing to put their names forward.
The tussle between Labour’s two wings is by no means new, and the groundswell for change that brought Corbyn to power is mirrored across Europe, where centre-left parties have lost support to anti-establishment movements that have emerged since the 2008 economic crisis.
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She also questioned Mr Corbyn’s leadership skills after spending virtually all his working life as an MP – as well as questioning whether the politics of the 1970s are “relevant to the 21st century, and to post-Brexit Britain”.
