In a blunt assessment of Corbyn, Smith told the Labour leader: “We’ve gone backwards on your watch in Scotland”.
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Jeremy Corbyn secured a seat in a Virgin rail carriage for his latest journey as he returned to the operator following the Traingate row.
They said the Conservative Party’s “ideological madness of brutal cuts and austerity instead of badly-needed investment” – alongside other right wing governments in Europe – had proved to be “disastrous”.
So the past fortnight has seen Mr Smith go further and further with his attacks on Brexit – culminating in last night’s fiery display where he all-but-accused Mr Corbyn of outright lying about his support for Remain.
He insisted that he is “Labour till I die” and would not play a role in any potential party divide.
Just been suspended from the Labour Party, a member most of my life.
During the hustings Mr Corbyn was also accused of being “happy” about the vote for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, amid repeated questions from Mr Smith about how he had voted on the issue.
He also protested that Michael Foster, a Labour donor who described Corbyn supporters as “Nazi stormtroopers” had not been punished.
“He’s not bothered about the result”, said Smith.
He said: “The reason I think that Jeremy can be so complacent and passive about this is that he’s happy about the result”.
Mr Corbyn said there have been “tough challenges” in Scotland after the party finished third in the May’s Holyrood election.
The Labour leader was on the campaign trail in Glasgow yesterday, where he officially ruled out any formal alliance with the SNP because the nationalists “come from different traditions”.
He said he would write to Mr McNicol to demand that “members and supporters who are suspended or lose their voting rights are given clear information about why action has been taken and a timely opportunity to challenge the decision”.
“This is not progress for Labour – we’ve been at a lower ebb than we’ve been since 1982”.
Smith: I’m not even sure that Jeremy voted In.
Of Mr Corbyn, the best Mr Smith could say was that “He’s got convictions and he’s stuck with them, all this time later”.
But Corbyn reacted angrily to the suggestion and said the referendum had taken place and delivered a result, which was not the one he wanted but it had to be respected.
Smith added he was “very proud” to have the backing of Dugdale, who announced her support for him in her Daily Record column on Monday.
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To applause, the Labour leader added: “What the SNP is doing is actually an austerity program that they’re pretending is not an austerity program”.
