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Thousands turn out to support Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in Liverpool

When I interviewed Labour leadership hopeful Owen Smith earlier this week, I asked him if he was on a suicide mission.

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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has pledged to end “rip off Britain” if he wins the next general election and tackle abuses such as zero hours contracts.

Responding to the intervention, Mr Smith said he would “not indulge in gossip”.

A statement said: “There was a technical glitch with the system used for sending out messages, which meant some texts were delivered after the intended 8pm cut-off”.

It is also barred from organising hustings in the contest between Mr Corbyn and his challenger Owen Smith, a Sussex University graduate.

The New Statesman’s George Eaton tweeted shortly after Smith’s press conference saying the policy list was proof that Corbyn had “shifted Labour’s internal party debate dramatically leftwards” – and this is probably true.

Families, couples and older people packed out the Rose Bowl just around 1pm and were entertained by the Hillbilly Troupe and speaker after speaker in support of Jeremy Corbyn.

As the bitter tussle continued, shadow home secretary Andy Burnham claimed he would be leader of the Labour Party if leadership election rules had not been reformed by Ed Miliband.

Labour MPs might not like it, but if Mr Corbyn is re-elected with an overwhelming majority, they may have little option.

“This movement to the centre with everybody trying to say exactly the same things, if the centre parties won we would never have had any non-Liberal Democratic government”.

Mr Corbyn is speaking at the Metropole Hotel on the seafront as part of a “Corbyn for leader rally”.

Another MP revealed talk of backbench Labourite MPs being placed in “direct competition with Mr Corbyn’s shadow ministers, creating a “party within a party” with independent policy positions and a whipping operation”.

The real lesson of Corbyn’s period as party leader is that his absolute refusal to mobilise the mass support he enjoys against the right wing is evidence of his overarching loyalty to the Labour and trade union bureaucracy, of which he is a left-talking representative.

The committee was convened by the shadow chancellor, #John McDonnell, and reported directly to Corbyn.

“If you’re going to be effective in politics you’ve got to listen to people, some of whom may not agree with you, some of whom may have criticisms, some of whom may have constructive suggestions for you”.

“I really hope the Labour Party doesn’t split”, millionaire businessman John Mills, a veteran Labour supporter, told reporters.

Mr Smith told the BBC: “I do worry about there being a split”.

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Mrs Hodgson, who has served as an MP for over a decade, says she will now throw her support behind Mr Smith’s bid to wrestle control of a party she says is now in “dire straits”.

High Court challenge over leadership ballot rules was waste of time, says Islington MP Corbyn