Suspicions raised Jeremy Corbyn voted FOR Brexit after he refused to say which way he cast his ballot
Former shadow Commons leader Chris Bryant accuses the Labour leader of betraying the party's position on Europe
A SENIOR Labour MP says he suspects that Jeremy Corbyn voted for Brexit after the party leader declined to tell him which way he cast his ballot.
Chris Bryant said he asked the question directly as he warned Mr Corbyn he would "destroy" the party unless he stepped aside and did not seek re-election, but did not get an answer.
He told BBC News: "Jeremy's management of the campaign for the referendum left many voters on polling day not even knowing which way Jeremy himself was going to vote.
“I suspect that Jeremy may have voted to leave.
"Not only is that a betrayal of Labour's historic position on the European Union - a fundamental economic and foreign policy objective of ours - but also it means that if he were to lead is into a general election, the latest poll shows we would lose 150 seats, we would be a rump of 75 Members of Parliament.
"I said to Jeremy last night 'look, I've tried to make this work but the only person who can make this work is you, by stepping aside and not standing in the subsequent election and letting somebody else take over the reins because otherwise you will destroy the Labour Party'."
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He cast doubt on whether Mr Corbyn could find sufficient supportive MPs to form a full shadow government.
Mr Bryant said the decision of voters to withdraw from the EU - including a majority in his own constituency of Rhondda - had to be respected.
He added: "But what this country now needs, more than ever, is clear unambiguous leadership and I just don't think Jeremy has it in him to do that. I don't even think he really wants to be prime minister.
"We cannot go forward to a general election with a leader who cannot command the respect of the parliamentary party or, much more importantly, of the voters."
Mr Bryant resigned from the Shadow Cabinet yesterday saying “we need someone new to unite and lead Labour”.
Bryant's claim was supported last night by a computer programmer who insisted Mr Corbyn told him he would vote to quit the EU.
Martin Waplington, 47, said he bumped into the lifelong Eurosceptic Labour leader on Friday, June 10.
“I saw a man who looked like Jeremy Corbyn sitting in the corner of the restaurant, it was about 11pm.
“When he went to the toilet, I went up to the table where three others were and asked them if it was Jeremy. A woman said, yes it was and then introduced me to his wife.
“Jeremy then came back and shook my hand. He asked me how I was voting in the referendum and I was saying I would vote to remain.
“He said: ‘Well, I’m going to vote to leave.’
“I then joked with him that we should buddy up and not vote so we could cancel each other out, because it’s going to be a problem for me as a commuter.”
Responding to Mr Bryant's claim about the way Mr Corbyn voted, a spokesman for the Labour leader said: "It's a ridiculous thing to suggest.
"Jeremy tweeted immediately after he voted that he voted to remain, so the matter is already public."