Smith unleashes battlebus to win support
LABOUR LEADERSHIP contender Owen Smith yesterday unveiled the latest weapon in his attempt to unseat Jeremy Corbyn.
Mr Smith has begun a twoweek battlebus tour to drum up support for his leadership bid.
Voting has already begun in the election with the result set to be announced at Labour’s annual conference next month.
Mr Corbyn’s supporters continue to claim that the party has worked against its leader by trying to prevent him standing in the ballot and stopping supporters voting in the election.
In a Facebook post, Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry wrote: “Here we are now, less than a year after Jeremy’s overwhelming victory, and the party hierarchy - through decisions of the National Executive Committee - is attempting to overturn that result, quash Jeremy’s mandate, and put the party’s members back in their box.
“And they are doing so in the most naked way.
“I was disgusted to see the attempts to try to stop Jeremy from getting on the ballot. And then, if that wasn’t bad enough, hundreds of thousands of fully paid-up Labour party members were excluded from taking part in the election, having been told the opposite when they joined.
“Third, your membership fees were spent on securing that decision through the courts. And then lastly, registered supporters, who had been told they could be involved in the leadership election, were then told that they must increase their donation to £25 within two days to remain eligible for a vote.”
She added: “In short, some people have done their level best to deny the party’s full membership a fair and equal vote in this contest, or even the chance to make their voices heard.
“Instead of welcoming the enthusiasm of our new members, instead of celebrating the strength of our mass membership, they have been behaving as if it is something to be afraid of.”