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| Jeremy Corbyn apologises to Labour MPs for defeat 'for which I take responsibility' – live news | Jeremy Corbyn apologises to Labour MPs for defeat 'for which I take responsibility' – live news |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments, including parliamentary Labour party meeting for first time since election | Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments, including parliamentary Labour party meeting for first time since election |
| Jess Phillips, viewed as a possible leadership candidate by some, has played down the ferocity of the PLP meeting, though she said it was largely critical of Corbyn. | |
| She said she read a text from Melanie Onn, the former Labour MP who lost her Great Grimsby seat to the Tories, about “how she had been let down by the leadership and the frontbench and that nobody had bothered with Grimsby”. Phillips said: | |
| Here’s a little more on Creagh’s comments about Jeremy Corbyn: She told Channel 4 News she had confronted him in Westminster because, in her view, he’d “enabled a hard Brexit” and “five years of austerity”. | |
| Creagh blamed Corbyn for Labour’s losses, adding: “This was Jeremy’s manifesto [...] Jeremy’s NEC.” She added that the views she’d heard expressed about his policies on the doorsteps could not be broadcast pre-watershed. And she said: | |
| Another Labour MP on his way out of the meeting says Corbyn’s leadership came up time and time again in the meeting. He said Margaret Beckett, who was acting leader after John Smith died, made a particularly noteworthy contribution, saying the leadership should not be worried about protecting its legacy when thinking about a new leader; what mattered was who would be best placed to win, she told the meeting. | Another Labour MP on his way out of the meeting says Corbyn’s leadership came up time and time again in the meeting. He said Margaret Beckett, who was acting leader after John Smith died, made a particularly noteworthy contribution, saying the leadership should not be worried about protecting its legacy when thinking about a new leader; what mattered was who would be best placed to win, she told the meeting. |
| The MP said several colleagues also said antisemitism had been a problem, and had to be addressed. | The MP said several colleagues also said antisemitism had been a problem, and had to be addressed. |
| He acknowledged that some MPs spoke out in support of Corbyn. But, referring to MPs like Claudia Webbe (see 7.15pm), he said people just elected in safe seats were not best placed to understand the party’s problems. | He acknowledged that some MPs spoke out in support of Corbyn. But, referring to MPs like Claudia Webbe (see 7.15pm), he said people just elected in safe seats were not best placed to understand the party’s problems. |
| That’s all from me for tonight. My colleague Kevin Rawlinson is taking over now. | That’s all from me for tonight. My colleague Kevin Rawlinson is taking over now. |
| “Well cheerful,” says an MP, ironically, commenting on the mood at PLP on the way out - but then she adds: “It’s no better or worse than it always is.” | “Well cheerful,” says an MP, ironically, commenting on the mood at PLP on the way out - but then she adds: “It’s no better or worse than it always is.” |
| Earlier one member of the PLP was complaining about the leader’s office not being in touch with MPs who lost their seats. See 6.53pm.Channel 4 News has had an interview with Mary Creagh, who has been making the same complaint. | Earlier one member of the PLP was complaining about the leader’s office not being in touch with MPs who lost their seats. See 6.53pm.Channel 4 News has had an interview with Mary Creagh, who has been making the same complaint. |
| Creagh lost her seat last week. | Creagh lost her seat last week. |
| Another MP mutters “madness, pure madness” as he walks past journalists after leaving the PLP meeting. | Another MP mutters “madness, pure madness” as he walks past journalists after leaving the PLP meeting. |
| On the way out one long-serving MP tells journalists that the meeting consisted of “dreary contributions from the leadership and absolutely no acknowledgment of what went wrong”. | On the way out one long-serving MP tells journalists that the meeting consisted of “dreary contributions from the leadership and absolutely no acknowledgment of what went wrong”. |
| More from Paul Waugh | More from Paul Waugh |
| Jeremy Corbyn’s comments about being sorry and taking responsibility for Labour’s defeat are significant because, when he spoke at his election count in the early hours of Friday morning, and when he gave a TV interview later in the day, he expressed little contrition over what had happened. | Jeremy Corbyn’s comments about being sorry and taking responsibility for Labour’s defeat are significant because, when he spoke at his election count in the early hours of Friday morning, and when he gave a TV interview later in the day, he expressed little contrition over what had happened. |
| But in an open letter in the Sunday Mirror at the weekend he did say he was sorry about the result. However, in a separate article for the Observer, he did not use the word “sorry” or “apologise”, and just said he regretted what had happened. | But in an open letter in the Sunday Mirror at the weekend he did say he was sorry about the result. However, in a separate article for the Observer, he did not use the word “sorry” or “apologise”, and just said he regretted what had happened. |
| These are from my colleague Kate Proctor. | These are from my colleague Kate Proctor. |
| I didn’t see the Labour peer Stewart Wood go in for the PLP meeting (it’s for peers as well as MPs), but here are his thoughts, in an article for HuffPost, on what Labour needs to do to recover. Wood worked as an adviser to Gordon Brown when he was PM, and then as an adviser to Ed Miliband. | I didn’t see the Labour peer Stewart Wood go in for the PLP meeting (it’s for peers as well as MPs), but here are his thoughts, in an article for HuffPost, on what Labour needs to do to recover. Wood worked as an adviser to Gordon Brown when he was PM, and then as an adviser to Ed Miliband. |
| The door opens as a peer leaves the room. While it’s open we can hear a woman (I did not recognise her voice) say: | The door opens as a peer leaves the room. While it’s open we can hear a woman (I did not recognise her voice) say: |
| We have heard quite a few complaints in recent days that Corbyn’s office has not been in touch with MPs who lost their seats. | We have heard quite a few complaints in recent days that Corbyn’s office has not been in touch with MPs who lost their seats. |
| When she finished she got a round of applause. | When she finished she got a round of applause. |