Labour leadership candidates speak at first hustings – live news
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Version 5 of 10. Sir Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Emily Thornberry, Jess Phillips and Lisa Nandy debate in Liverpool Burgon got a big round of applause when he defended Jeremy Corbyn. He said: “I want to speak out against the demonisation of a decent man. There’s no city in this country that knows as much as you do about how newspapers like the right wing Sun newspaper demonised decent people and that’s why I was proud to take the Sun to court, be cross-examined by them for two days, defeat them in court and use the compensation to set up a local internship for young people in Leeds. “Just as they demonised you in this city, they demonised Jeremy.” On the manifesto, he said: “I back our progressive policies in both the 2017 and 2019 manifesto. I do think we need to learn the lesson of this devastating election, defeat because our communities are suffering the consequences.” While Rayner admits there wasn’t an overarching message in Labour election manifesto, she said: “I have nothing bad to say about what we were trying to achieve in our manifesto, which to me was socialism.” In response to a question on party unity, Dawn Butler said: “People talk about unity, but I walk the walk on unity. It’s great everyone is talking about being united, but I walk that walk. I have served under two Labour prime ministers and they don’t come around that often, but we need to get us back there again and we need a Labour government. I have served in the shadow cabinet and I would never, ever, ever, join a coup because no one votes for a disunited party.” Candidates were first asked to spell out the key message from their campaign that can inspire the membersh. Rayner, the current-front runner for the position, said: “The key message is utilising every inch of our movement...energising it, and bringing us together to sell what socialism is about, what the labour movement is about. She added: “My role, my backstory talks about how we can unify the party and we can get behind our leader and that we win the next general election because I don’t think we can wait any longer.” There are five MPs running to be the deputy leader of the Labour party. This includes Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, Richard Burgon, Dawn Butler, Ian Murray, and Angela Rayner, who got the most nominations from the parliamentary Labour party. Afternoon, I’m Aamna Mohdin taking over the live-blog for a bit so Nadeem can have a break. PA media has some reactions from some of the Labour members at the leadership hustings. Most of those approached by PA Media said there was no “knock-out” blow by any of the candidates. Duncan Hannant, a member from Rochdale, said: Keith Hebron, from Bootle, Liverpool, said: Danuta Brooke, from Sheffield, said: A man from Riverside Labour Party in Liverpool, who did not want to give his name, said: Labour MP Wes Streeting tweeted: “Proud of (Jess Phillips) at the first Labour hustings - absolutely rooted in the issues and conversations that shift votes and win elections. “Most importantly, a good-natured debate.” Former Labour adviser Ayesha Hazarika believes Lisa Nandy and Rebecca Long-Bailey performed the best in the first public hustings. More from Paul Mason on the questions asked during the hustings. Journalist Paul Mason on the format of the debate where candidates gave monologues with no room for debate. Lewis Goodall’s take on the leadership race - Some reaction to the hustings - |