The release of a list naming MPs who are accused of abusing Jeremy Corbyn and his allies is a “green light” to trolls to continue their abuse of those opposed to his leadership, an angry Labour MP has claimed.
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Speaking on Friday, he told how Labour lost a council by-election on Thursday night with a 35 per cent swing from the party to the Liberal Democrats and criticised campaign group Momentum for the way in which they’ve tried to keep Mr Corbyn in power.
And they attacked Mr Smith for appearing to describe the leader as a “lunatic” – something he denies.
The briefing from Mr Corbyn’s team accused Mr Smith of being the “real disunity candidate”, citing comments by Smith-supporting MPs Jess Phillips, Tristram Hunt and John Woodcock, as well as by Mr Watson.
Ian Austin, Neil Coyle, Ben Bradshaw, Frank Field, Anna Turley, Jamie Reed, Karl Turner, Stephen Kinnock and Tom Blenkinsop were all also identified by the campaign over claims about their behaviour.
Mr Corbyn said: “There was information put out there about statements that colleagues made on the record”.
Mr Corbyn said at least 90, to which Mr Smith declared that it was 106 seats. He probably wishes he hadn’t. “That’s how it will be seen by them”.
Loach, who founded Left Unity, a party which stood against Labour in 2015, is a supporter of Corbyn.
Labour has secured a plum role in the oversight of government Brexit policy, with an MP from Jeremy Corbyn’s party set to chair a new select committee on leaving the EU.
The pair asked each other questions as the debate got increasingly personal.
But Mr Smith, the MP for Pontypridd, said he would refuse to trigger Article 50 if he became Prime Minister tomorrow.
Mr Corbyn replied by asking Mr Smith to explain why he had resigned from the front bench.
The Labour leader said: “I’m very confident of the constituency changes that are suggested”.
“We know they are there, but they are not being taken into account”.
But she went on to say her leader was; “not providing the strong, forward-looking and competent leadership we need”, and that, “I do not believe the Labour Party under your leadership is, or ever will be, in good enough shape to go the public in an election”.
“We are all in favour of motherhood and apple pie, Jeremy, but politics is a tough business”.
“I think that when things like this happen publically it just causes a lot of hurt to people”.
He told a rally in Brighton that he wanted people to come together and join him in defending the NHS, pressing for decent jobs and for a fairer, more equal society.
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“You talk about trying to unite the party, but I find that quite hard to reconcile with something your campaign did just this evening, which was to publish a list, a deselection list if you like, of …”
