Would-be Ukip leader takes on Labour with social inequality vow

policies would relate to how housing, health and mental health provisions affect social mobility.

Mr Woolfe is also advocating a trust, with public and private sector backing, for young people from lower-income families to go to university without having to pay fees and other costs.

Mr Corbyn was today setting out measures to improve rights at work and expand the economy, including mandatory collective bargaining with recognised trade unions for firms with more than 250 staff, ending zero-hours contrac ts and repealing the Trade Union Act.

He was set to win the backing of the CWU union for the leadership race.

His challenger Owen Smith has proposed rewriting Labour’s Clause 4 to put tackling inequality at the heart of the party’s actions and he has warned that under Mr Corbyn it was failing to reach out to working-class supporters.

Separately, former minister John Spellar claimed there was a “smell of a dirty tricks operation” by Corbyn supporters who he alleged had set up a “straw man” of moves to split the party for shadow chancellor John McDonnell to condemn. Mr Woolfe’s leadership bid got off to a stumbling start when he missed the nominations deadline. He insisted he was still in the race despite overshooting the deadline of noon yesterday by 17 minutes, but the party said there would be no final decision until tomorrow.

Mr Woolfe said he had been on the phone with a Ukip official at 11.56am, “pressing the button” to submit the application and sent photographs to prove it. “I did feel like I was in a scene from Little Britain’s ‘computer say no’,” he said. “But at 11.35 yesterday I managed to be on the phone with my bank to prove that the £5,000 [deposit] had been transferred over.” Asked if he would pursue legal action if his application was rejected, he replied: “I hope it wouldn’t come to that.”

He also denied allegations that he had allowed his Ukip membership to lapse in 2014. He is favourite to succeed Mr Farage, but Huntingdonshire councillor Lisa Duffy and MEPs Bill Etheridge and Jonathan Arnott have also thrown their names into the ring.