Labour’s Owen Smith and Angela Eagle will go head-to-head in bid to oust Jeremy Corbyn
Pair plan to set out visions for future of beleagured party to fellow MPs
LABOUR leadership rivals Owen Smith and Angela Eagle will face off on Monday for the right to challenge Jeremy Corbyn.
The pair will set out their visions for the future to fellow MPs who are desperate that only one candidate should take on the current leader.
Former shadow work and pensions secretary Mr Smith backed that yesterday (SUN) as he said whoever wins the most nominations from colleagues should go forward.
He said: “My view is whoever is the person who commands the largest degree of support in the Parliamentary Labour Party is the unity candidate, and that’s the person who should go forward and take Jeremy on.”
But ex-shadow business secretary Ms Eagle refused to back the idea – suggesting a bloody battle to find a unity candidate is on the cards.
She said: “I think we have to have the person who is most likely to beat Jeremy Corbyn, and I think that is me.”
Colleagues insisted only one contender can go on to fight Mr Corbyn.
Veteran Labour MP Graham Allen said: “If the PLP are not capable of having one unity candidate the party will be judged by our voters as incapable of organising an effective government.”
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The two contenders have until Wednesday to gather support from MPs and Euro MPs and reveal who has the most backing.
Mr Smith, 46, formally launched his campaign yesterday after postponing it from Friday in the wake of the Bastille Day truck attack in Nice which killed at least 84 people.
He promised to put tackling inequality at the heart of Labour’s mission by re-writing its iconic Clause Four, vowed to guarantee a Commons vote on any decision to go to war, and pledged to create a £200 billion “British New Deal” infrastructure investment plan.
Meanwhile shadow education secretary Angela Rayner repeatedly refused to say she would back Mr Corbyn for the leadership in the contest which will run until September 24.