Voting in the contest is already under way with a victor to be announced on September 24. Alongside emphasising the need for control by the membership of the Labour Party, in recent proposals Corbyn emphasised the need to democratise the legislature; replacing the House of Lords with an elected second chamber and offering greater power to local communities. With longstanding supporters Corbyn does not have the same level of support, but the huge number of new members easily cancels out this discrepancy.
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And she warned the growing divide between the party hierarchy and its members could see the Labour Party repeat mistakes made under Tony Blair when the rank and file members were left “alienated, demoralised and ignored”.
ISPA, the Internet Services Providers’ Association, said in a statement: “There are a number of interesting policy suggestions in the manifesto, including a proposed Digital Bill of Rights to protect civil liberties and the promotion of digital skills, but more information is required over a high speed broadband Universal Service Network”. The question of whether or not the Labour party as it now stands will be able to survive the gulf between its membership and the party itself looks set to dominate the discourse in the winter of 2016.
And 29% of those backing Mr Smith warned they would leave the party if the incumbent wins the race, while 36% of Mr Corbyn’s supporters would do the same if he loses.
Members started voting on Monday, August 22, with the result expected on September 24.
Paying £25 each, more than 180,000 people registered as supporters of the party during a 48-hour period in July to vote.
Mr Balls also hit out at Labour’s “astonishingly dysfunctional” 2015 general election campaign.
In a separate development, Mr Corbyn vowed that Labour would fight for a “diverse and united Britain” as he launched a new consultation on tackling discrimination and promoting racial equality. Greater investment in the NHS, or rent controls would make a significant difference to quality of life for the vast majority of people, but socialism can not be won through policy change, no matter how good the policies are; instead an entire transformation needs to take place.
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“Such a fifth column is completely absent from the Parliamentary Labour Party today”, said Mr Winnick.
