“Jeremy Corbyn is unable to provide the leadership that this party needs – I believe I can”.
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Referring to an attack from shadow health secretary Diane Abbott claiming that her bid was akin to The Empire Strikes Back because she represented the old guard in Labour, Ms Eagle joked: “More like Return Of The Jedi”.
Jeremy Corbyn has suggested he would consider suing the Labour Party if he was not automatically included on the ballot.
Yesterday she said she regretted her former stance on Iraq in the wake of the damning Chilcot report into the war and would vote differently today.
When Ms Eagle was asked if she wanted an immediate general election after the announcement that Theresa May will take over as Prime Minister on Wednesday, she told Sky News: “I’ll support any calls for a general election if we are going to get legitimacy”.
To launch a fresh leadership election, an MP must have the nominations of at least 20 percent of the party’s MPs and Members of the European Parliament.
Describing herself as a “practical socialist”, Eagle said the Labour leader was not up to the job.
Britain’s opposition Labour Party says that a leadership contest had been officially triggered following the receipt of sufficient nominations for a rival candidate to incumbent left-wing leader Jeremy Corbyn.
He added that some party members had been angered by accusations of intimidation and homophobic remarks made against others in the CLP, which they strongly deny. It’s about giving hope to people all over the country that Labour can be an alternative government, ready and equipped to serve.
Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee also has to to decide this week whether the party leader must be re-nominated by MPs in order to run in the event of a challenge to his leadership.
Angela Eagle (above) announced on Monday that she would stand against Mr Corbyn – who overwhelmingly lost a vote of no confidence – in a bid to save and unite the party.
He urged Eagle to “think for a moment” about her challenge. I am now putting the whole of the party on a General Election footing.
Leadsom pulled out of the Conservative Party leadership race on Monday, citing “the interests of our country”. “And someone who came fourth out of five to be deputy, it’s not clear to me that she can win the leadership”, she said on the TV show Good Morning Britain, the Independent reports.
Ms Eagle said: “This is not about splitting the Labour Party this is about uniting the party”.
If Mr Corbyn is automatically on the ballot, the support in the party’s grassroots which swept him to victory in 2015 could do so again – leaving his opponents facing an even deeper problem.
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“The idea that Jeremy Corbyn is driving a wedge in the Labour party, with the majority of support of the membership, is outrageous”.
