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Corbyn calls for u-turn over six-month cut off in leadership election

The Labour MP for Pontypridd warned there was a “clear and present danger” of a split in the Labour party, and said he was standing for the leadership in order to prevent that.

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“I want to rewrite Clause IV to put tackling inequality right at the heart of everything that we do”.

“And if it is not going to reduce those inequalities, then we in the Labour Party should not do it”.

“It is a moment in which I think we all understood if any of us were still under any misapprehension that Iraq was a awful mistake”.

“I want a world without nuclear weapons altogether, but I don’t think we hasten that by divesting”, he said, adding that he would be prepared to press the nuclear “button” as Prime Minster.

He promised a “British New Deal”, saying he would commit cash to housing, transport and “investing in people”.

He said: “At a time when we have had the Tory Party on the ropes, the Prime Minister resigned, we should have been in there, putting the boot into the Tory Party, finishing them off”.

“It can not happen, it will not happen”, he said.

Mr Corbyn remains confident that the bulk of Labour members and affiliate supporters will re-elect him on September 24.

Corbyn said he hopes the NEC reverses last week’s decision to impose a January 12 freeze date – excluding those who have been members for less than six months – but stopped short of saying the.reformed rules would make the result illegitimate.

Mr Smith said whoever has the most support in the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) should become the unity candidate to take on Mr Corbyn.

He told the BBC’s Sunday Politics programme that he wants the party’s National Executive Committee to change the restrictions, adding that he believes the £25 fee for registered supporters to vote in the contest is too high.

The move is aimed at “left behind” communities which voted to leave the European Union and who feel they have been forgotten by successive governments, according to Labour.

The Labour leader has also suggested that he may take legal action to challenge the voting rules if they are not rescinded, telling the Sunday Mirror he was “very concerned” by the changes.

He was speaking ahead of a PLP hustings on Monday night where the leadership contenders will set out their stall.

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Senior Labour MPs have called for a single unity candidate, warning that a protracted and divisive leadership battle would detract from challenging Mrs May.

The poll made good reading for Theresa May