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Angela Eagle says 'I’m here to win' at launch of Labour leadership bid
Angela Eagle says 'I’m here to win' at launch of Labour leadership bid
(35 minutes later)
“I don’t go in for suicide missions,” Ms Eagle said when asked if her chances were doomed if Mr Corbyn is allowed on the ballot paper. Ms Eagle insisted it was a matter for the party’s national executive committee whether Mr Corbyn needed to be nominated by 51 MPs and MEPs to be allowed to stand as a candidate. Taking a swipe at Mr Corbyn, Ms Eagle said: “A kinder politics must be a reality, not just a slogan.”
Angela Eagle has formally launched her bid to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader, arguing that the party desperately needed a unifying force who could win a general election.
Referring to an attack from shadow health secretary Diane Abbott claiming that her bid was akin to The Empire Strikes Back because she represented the old guard in Labour, Ms Eagle joked: “More like Return Of The Jedi.” Ms Eagle said she had no choice but to stand against Mr Corbyn because Britain was in danger of becoming a “one-party Tory state” under his leadership.
Ms Eagle has the backing of the 51 MPs needed for a formal challenge but it remains unclear whether Mr Corbyn will also have to secure the support of MPs in order to fight the leadership battle. The 55-year-old said her background as a “good, sensible, down-to-earth woman with northern roots” would help her lead the party. Meanwhile, Owen Smith, another potential leadership contender, expressed fears Mr Corbyn and his allies are prepared to split the party in order to remain in place. In a further sign the party is on the verge of all-out civil war, Mr Smith said that at a meeting with Mr Corbyn he asked him three times whether he is prepared to see a split but “he offered no answer”, while the leader’s ally and shadow chancellor John McDonnell “shrugged his shoulders and said ‘if that’s what it takes”’.
“It’s about giving hope to people all over the country that Labour can be an alternative government, ready and equipped to serve. Bu the blunt truth is, the country doesn’t believe that when they look at us right now. But they will if I win.”
join Labour now. “A kind politics must be a reality, not just an empty slogan.”
“We are at a crossroads, and I am ready to lead
No one from BBC, or Peston
“More like Return of the Jedi.”
John mcd nominated for deputy leader
“He can do whatever he likes.I’ll take on all comers.”
“You have to lead in parliament as well. We’ve seen Jeremy not do that job. He’s been hiding behind a door, not talking to his members of parliament. That’s not leadership.”
done great things, but othebpeple to take it on
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anti austerity. heal divisuons, “a fairer furure for all
Angela Eagle has formally launched her bid to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader, describing herself as “a strong Labour woman” who could heal division in the party and lead it to election victory.
Finally beginning her campaign after weeks of speculation that she would be the MP to take on Corbyn, Eagle said the party needed to move beyond the factionalism and divisions of the current era.
“I’m not a Blairite, I’m not a Brownite and I’m not a Corbynista. I am my own woman – a strong Labour woman,” she said, to cheers from supporters. “I’m not here for a Labour party that just takes part. I’m here to win.”
“Jeremy Corbyn is unable to provide the leadership that this huge task needs,” she told an audience of press and noisy supporters in central London. “I believe I can.”
“Jeremy Corbyn is unable to provide the leadership that this huge task needs,” she told an audience of press and noisy supporters in central London. “I believe I can.”
Eagle, who has been considering a leadership bid since she resigned as shadow business secretary in late June, said the party needed to move beyond the factionalism and divisions of the Corbyn era.
Eagle, who has been considering a leadership bid since resigning as shadow business secretary in late June, said the party needed to move beyond the factionalism and divisions of the Corbyn era.
EU referendum.
“I’m not a Blairite, I’m not a Brownite, and I’m not a Corbynista. I am my own woman – a strong Labour woman,” she said. “I’m not here for a Labour party that just takes part. I’m here to win.”
The event started at precisely the moment Andrea Leadsom announced she was dropping out of the race to become Conservative party leader, paving the way for Theresa May to take over as prime minister immediately, rendering some parts of Eagle’s speech obsolete even as she read them – she said the presence in office of “a failed prime minister” made the need for a strong opposition all the greater.
Her speech contained no specific policy ideas, only general commitments to ideas such as social mobility and equality. Eagle’s main pitch to the party members who will, most likely, vote between her, Corbyn and any other candidate who might emerge, was that Labour needed a strong leader in the aftermath of the EU referendum.
“Today I’m announcing my decision to stand for the leadership of the Labour party,” she began. “I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think I had something to offer to bring our party and our country back together. I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think I would be a good prime minister for Britain.
“Today I’m announcing my decision to stand for the leadership of the Labour party,” she began. “I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think I had something to offer to bring our party and our country back together. I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think I would be a good prime minister for Britain.
“These are dark times for Labour, and they are dangerous times for our country. A referendum to settle an argument in the Conservative party has resulted in the country being torn apart – our economy damaged, our society hurt.”
“These are dark times for Labour, and they are dangerous times for our country. A referendum to settle an argument in the Conservative party has resulted in the country being torn apart – our economy damaged, our society hurt.”
