The shadow housing housing minister, Roberta Blackman-Woods, is threatening to resign if Corbyn doesn’t step down.
“It is time for another leadership election. It is time for him to go”, she told BBC Newcastle.
The shadow housing housing minister, Roberta Blackman-Woods, is threatening to resign if Corbyn doesn’t step down.
“It is time for another leadership election. It is time for him to go”, she told BBC Newcastle.
Ian Murray, until yesterday the shadow Scottish secretary, has been explaining his resignation from Jeremy Corbyn’s cabinet on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme.
Insisting that there was “no choreography” to Sunday’s slew of resignations – a delegation was planning to see Corbyn this morning but that was superseded by Hilary Benn’s sacking – Murray said that “I don’t think that Jeremy had his heart and soul in the campaign.
“We haven’t reached out to traditional Labour voters, we haven’t taken on some of the concerns that people had about immigration that were wrong, the campaign was lacklustre and the response since has not been robust enough.”
He asked Labour party members who supported Corbyn in the last leadership election to understand the current political crisis was “bigger than one person, bigger than the Labour party”.
“We’re talking to too narrow a group of people in a comfort zone that means we are not a credible party of government.”
Another few minutes goes by and Corbyn is hit by another resignation in his junior ranks. This time it’s Stephen Kinnock as parliamentary private secretary to Angela Eagle.
There have further resignations in the junior levels of Labour’s frontbench team.
Toby Perkins has resigned as shadow armed forces minister, saying that the Labour party “needs a change at the top”.
Diana Johnson has resigned as a shadow foreign minister and Anna Turley as shadow minister for civil society.
Osborne closed his statement by signalling that he intends to play an “active part” in the debate about Britain’s role in Europe after the referendum. He also suggested he’ll make a statement on whether he plans to run for PM in the coming days.
He said:
The third and final challenge I spoke of, was that of ensuring, that Britain was able to agree a long-term economic relationship with the rest of the Europe, that provided the best possible terms of trade in goods and services. Together my colleagues in the government in the Conservative party and in parliament, will have to determine what those terms should be, and will have to negotiate with our European friends and allies to agree them. I intend to play an active part in that debate, for I want this great trading nation of ours to put in place the strongest possible economic links with our European neighbours ...
I do not want Britain to turn its back on Europe or on the rest of the world. We must bring unity of spirit and purpose and condemn hatred and division wherever we see it. Britain is an open and tolerant country and I will fight with everything have to keep it so. Today I am completely focused on the task in hand as chancellor of the exchequer to bring stability and reassurance. There have been questions about the future of the Conservative party and I will address my role within that in the coming days. The British people have given us their instructions, there is much to do to make it work. We start from a position of hard-won strength, and whatever the undoubted challenges my colleagues and I are determined to do the best for Britain.
The general message from Osborne’s statement was that he warned there would be problems, but by playing for time we can cope.
Here’s a key passage from the statement:
As a result of Thursday’s decision, some firms are continuing to pause their decision to invest or to hire people. As I said before the referendum this will have an impact on the economy and the public finances, and there will need to be action to address that. Given the delay in triggering article 50 and the prime minister’s decision to hand over to a successor, it is sensible, that decisions on what that action should consist of, wait for the OBR [Office for Budget Responsibility] to assess the economy in the autumn, and for the new prime minister to be in place. But no one should doubt our resolve to maintain the fiscal stability we have delivered for this country. The British economy is fundamentally strong, we are highly competitive and we are open for business.
The pound has recovered some of its early losses following Osborne’s statement, but is still down against the US dollar. It is now trading around $1.345, a fall of 1.7% this morning.
Sterling had fallen to $1.339 before the chancellor spoke, down from $1.36 on Friday night.
Here’s some instant reaction to Osborne’s statement:
Osborne: the fundamentals are strong, we have dealt with the immediate impact because of the contingency plan. Britain is open for business. And with that he’s back off to work.
Osborne: I said there would have to be action to adjust, in the autumn as it happens.
Q: Are we at the start of a recession? I made predictions and warnings, but all will require adjustment. I will make very hard to mitigate the impact.
On his future. It is my country right and wrong and I intend to fulfil my duty to the country.
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