Labour leadership candidates speak at first hustings – live news
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Version 0 of 10. Sir Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Emily Thornberry, Jess Phillips and Lisa Nandy debate in Liverpool Sir Keir’s Brexit stance: “I think people are really fed up of it. “Europe tore the Tory party apart for 40 years, we cannot allow it to tear us apart for 10-20 years.” Long-Bailey said: “We have got to recognise Brexit will happen. We have to show a clear vision, what our place in the world is going to be. “People talked about power being centralised in Brussels but Westminster is no different.” On Brexit, Thornberry said: “He’s [Johnson] not going to get a deal in 2020. I know, you know, he doesn’t care. “We might be dealing with a no deal Brexit.” Phillips said: “We have got to send that fight to Boris Johnson so in Grimsby to ensure he does what he promised on the side of a bus. Also in our London seats.” On Brexit, Nandy said: “We should never allow the Tories to divide us. We have to raise our game. We must raise our game.” Sir Keir said: “We have had far too much division. We want to come together, we have to end factualism. “We need to draw the strength, passion of our members together. Nandy: “Our breadth is what gives us reach in the country. I love the energy and dynamism in our party in recent years and loyalty and experience. “We must raise the bar and move forward together.” Thornberry: “We have to stick together. Every day we spend fighting in the media is a day lost fighting with the Tories. We need to have a leader from the heart of the party.” Phillips: “The namecalling has been horrendous. Build a broad team of people. What we have found in the past few years is the membership felt they were not being included.” The first question is how would you reunite the party? Long Bailey said: “Over the last four years we haven’t been united. It’s not acceptable for our members to call other members a cult. Yes we will disagree but in private.” Each candidate will have 40 seconds to answer each question with a stopwatch counting down. Liam Thorp said no interruptions or heckling allowed. All five leadership candidates are now on stage. The Liverpool Echo’s political editor Liam Thorp is the host and joked there should be no mention of football today or the Liverpool and Everton rivalry. Each of the Labour leadership hopefuls must secure the backing of trade unions and local parties in order to make the final ballot. The five candidates need the support of five per cent of local parties or at least three affiliates - two must be unions - by February 14th to make the final ballot. Members of the public who join the party or become affiliated supporters before Monday will be eligible to vote in the contest. The hustings is set to get underway at 11:30am. Emily Thornberry warned earlier this week that Labour faces “a long, tough road back to power” after the party suffered its worst general election defeat since 1935. The Islington South and Finsbury MP, who narrowly secured the support from MPs to enter the race on Monday, insisted she was the best placed to oust Boris Johnson within five years. She said: “Boris Johnson has all sorts of problems with women. “And he is going to have an even bigger one if I become leader of the Labour Party. “I think that he has a problem with women. “I have spoken to a number of women who have said that the way he deals with them - and they are younger women - is that he flirts with them.” Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey kicked off her campaign with a speech in Manchester, admitting the party did not talk enough about “aspiration”. She also vowed to “shake up” the way government works, and put power into the hands of voters. She was asked why Labour had failed with voters, returning their worst electoral result since 1935. Mrs Long-Bailey said: “I think for me we had some fantastic policies, I know because I helped write some of them, and really the message didn’t resonate with our voters. “And what we should have been talking about is aspiration.” Deputy leadership candidates Rosena-Allin Khan, Richard Burgon, Dawn Butler, Ian Murray and Angela Rayner will also make also their case at today’s event. Other events are planned in cities including Durham, Bristol, Cardiff, Nottingham, Glasgow and London, as well as in the West Midlands and Bedford over the coming weeks. The result of the contest will be announced on 4 April. Good morning. The first regional hustings in the Labour leadership race will kick off this morning. Sir Kier Starmer and Rebecca Long-Bailey are among those seeking support to take over from Jeremy Corbyn as party leader. Long-Bailey and the shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, officially launched their campaigns to lead Labour last night. Backbenchers Jess Phillips and Lisa Nandy are also in the race to succeed Corbyn in the ballot. All five candidates are expected to appear at today’s event in Liverpool to mark the start of their hustings tour around the UK. |