Former shadow cabinet minister Owen Smith will put his name forward for the Labour Party leadership to challenge the under-fire incumbent Jeremy Corbyn.
Advertisement
It ruled that union members will not be able to vote in the party’s leadership contest unless they joined before January 12, bringing them into line with rules on people who had previously joined as full members.
Labour faces a summer of bruising clashes that threaten to split the party in two after the leader was guaranteed a place in the contest.
Ms Eagle said: “I’m glad Labour’s NEC has come to a decision”.
He went on: “I think there are many people out there who voted in good faith for Brexit and who felt they were doing the right thing for their families and their communities and I respect them for taking that decision”, he said.
Last year, shortly after Corbyn won an overwhelming mandate from Labour party members, Foster stood at the back of a Labour Party conference fringe meeting in Brighton shouting: “Say the word “Israel, ‘ say the word ‘Israel, ‘” after Corbyn addressed LFI supporters”.
Labour’s ruling body has blocked new union members from voting in its leadership election unless they pay £25.
Owen Smith is expected to launch his Labour leadership bid today. “I am not prepared to let that happen”, he will say.
Speculation is also mounting that the party could eventually split if Mr Corbyn remains in the top job.
“It was because they can not tolerate a socialist as the leader of the Labour party leading a socialist administration”.
He will join Angela Eagle in the race, after she also told the BBC’s Newsnight that Labour voters should sign up to become registered party supporters.
The party’s NEC heard three contradicting pieces of legal advice on Tuesday night, including from Michael Mansfield QC, which found only challengers needed nominations, and another from James Goudie QC which found all candidates should seek nominations from MPs.
Tom Watson, deputy leader of the Labour party, said: “This legal challenge is very unhelpful and destabilising to the Labour Party”.
Advertisement
Merseyside Police is investigating “criminal damage” to the ground floor window of a building in Manor Road, Wallasey, where Eagle has her constituency office, the force said in a statement on its website.
