Lead or leave, UK Labour party tells embattled PM May

British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn told Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday that if she could not unite her divided party she should quit. "If a prime minister can't lead, she should leave," the Labour leader told MPs in the House of Commons.

Last week, May fought off a plot to oust her by around 30 of her Conservative lawmakers, sparked by her disastrous speech to the party's annual conference. But her position remains fragile, even as negotiations on Britain's withdrawal from the European Union approach a crucial stage.

In the first prime minister's question time since the plot was revealed, Corbyn focused on pressing May on welfare reforms, which he said were leading claimants into poverty. But he also condemned May's wider approach, saying: "Everywhere you look it's a government in chaos. On the most important issues facing this country, it's a shambles, reports AFP.

"This government is more interested in fighting amongst themselves than in solving these problems." May responded by listing the government's achievements on the economy, jobs, health and education -- while accusing Labour of struggling with anti-Semitism in its ranks. Conservative MPs also heckled Corbyn when he spoke of in-fighting, referencing the fact that only a year ago, his own lawmakers had tried unsuccessfully to remove him.