In an interview Wednesday, Smith said the British people were “lied to” by Leave campaigners, commenting: “It would be irresponsible of Theresa May to simply trigger Article 50 and sleepwalk out (of the EU)”.
Advertisement
In a move bound to infuriate those who voted leave in last month’s referendum, he said that if Labour just won the support of the 48% of people who voted remain, it would still be enough to win a general election and not activate Article 50.
Senior MPs, including former shadow cabinet ministers Lilian Greenwood and Gloria De Piero, vent their frustration about Mr Corbyn in the video message supporting his leadership rival Owen Smith.
Jackson Cullinane, of Unite, hit out at the “Blairite” politicians he said were queueing up to accuse Mr Corbyn of lying.
The two largest unions affiliated to Labour – Unite and Unison – have also given their backing to Mr Corbyn.
With many expected to cast their votes in the coming days, it could be a vital week in the contest – even though polling does not close until September 21.
Paddy Power is now offering odds of 1/10 for Corbyn to defeat challenge Owen Smith – a huge probability of 90.9%.
Corbyn eventually relented and said sarcastically: “It’s a really important issue this, absolutely crucial to the future of the whole nation and the NHS”. The men disagreed on their approach to Brexit, nuclear weapons, and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, and argued when Smith pressed Corbyn to confirm he had voted “Remain” in the country’s June 23 referendum on European Union membership.
Addressing an audience at University College Hospital in London, Corbyn said: “Privatization and outsourcing don’t just erode the founding principles of the NHS, they’re actually a awful waste of resources”.
Mr Smith claimed during a hustings in Glasgow on Thursday night that the party north of the border had gone backwards under Mr Corbyn’s watch and he had failed to win back support for the SNP.
“Let’s be clear about this and exactly what’s going on here”.
The party were overtaken by the Conservatives and Mr Smith was jeered as he went on to praise Kezia Dugdale, the leader of the Scottish Party in charge of delivering the manifesto and campaign, for doing a “good job”.
Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, Sam Tarry defended the Islington MP after Virgin Trains released CCTV images of Mr Corbyn walking past rows of empty seats on a train he called “ram-packed”.
Advertisement
There have been complaints the release of the images has broken data protection rules.
