“There is something more than ideology or leadership appeal here – if the pro-Corbyn faction are left in control of the Labour party they get 21% compared to the rebels on 13%; if Corbyn’s opponents win control of the Labour party they get 19% compared to the Corbyn faction’s 14%”.
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Owen Smith has risked undermining the Scottish Labour party after admitting that he wouldn’t oppose a second referendum on Scotland’s independence.
“I think it would be for the leadership of the Scottish Labour party to determine what our position is in respect of that”.
Jeremy Corbyn has a 24 point lead over Owen Smith in the Labour leadership contest, according to a new poll.
Paul Flynn, shadow leader of the House of Commons and the man who deals with Labour’s expenses, said that the parliamentary watchdog the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) was a “bureaucratic ornament” which should be scrapped. According to the survey Corbyn’s main strength is that party members perceive him as “principled”, with 76% of those questioned agreeing with this description whilst also being trusted for “honesty” (64%) and for “shares my political outlook” (58%).
Members voted by 20 to seven in favour of endorsing of the Welshman at a meeting earlier this month.
He added: “It would be for the SNP to to choose to put that to the Scottish people, and it’s for the Scottish people ultimately to determine whether that’s what they want”.
“Many members recognised that there needed to be a change and that Owen Smith was best placed to unite the party going forward”. But of those who joined during May to September previous year, while the lat contest was taking place, 72 per cent are backing Corbyn – and of those who joined since he became leader in September, a whopping 86 per cent are backing him.
“Instead of agitating for a second independence referendum the SNP should focus on the bread and butter issues of government, like getting people back into work and giving everybody a fair chance in life”.
He said Labour would “be able to make good on our promises” if they were in power but fears that Mr Corbyn would leave them in “perpetual opposition”. “Labour must be a party that fights for black, Asian and ethnic minority communities – and a diverse and united Britain”, declared Mr Corbyn.
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The Labour leader, who has been attacked by critics for not doing enough to combat cyber bullying of his opponents, likened online abuse to the continuation of pub talk and insisted he would not tolerate it.
