Corbyn picks up another union endorsement

Left wing candidate for the leadership of the Labour party Jeremy Corbyn is heading to Merseyside this weekend.

Mr Ward, the general secretary of the Communications Workers Union, has likened Blairites – who fashioned New Labour and dominated the party for almost a decade – to a “virus” and said their “grip” on the party must be “loosened once and for all”.

She told BBC News: “We have been absolutely determined to ensure that that is not exploited by Tories who have tried to vote, Greens who have tried to vote, various socialist parties who stand against the Labour Party who have tried to vote in the leadership election”.

Another 22,000 people are likely to take advantage of new rules introduced by Ed Miliband that allow them to pay £3 to become “registered supporters”.

Jeremy Corbyn has been given a fresh boost in his bid to become Labour leader after receiving the backing of two more trade unions.

“I hope the party would recognise that the most democratic election we have held has produced an important result and has mobilised more importantly a very large number of people”.

He added: “Unfortunately, the government’s strategy is to let the private rented market rip in Central London and force councils to sell off valuable property and so there’s going to be less social housing available and more division which actually damages the workforce for the future because those that do many essential jobs – firefighters, nurses, Royal Mail delivery people, street sweepers, cleaners, refuse collectors – can’t afford to live in central London”.

She added: “We have got a very, very detailed verification process of listening in to phone calls to make sure that when people are signed up to be an affiliated supporter that they are people who support the Labour party”.

Mr Straw said the policies being put forward by Mr Corbyn – the frontrunner in the leadership race – could “not conceivably” win the next General Election.

Contenders Liz Kendall, Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper have all warned members that they risk consigning the party to years in opposition if Mr Corbyn wins.

Labour leadership hopeful Jeremy Corbyn will answer questions at a public meeting in Coventry on Sunday.

But Mr Burnham’s campaign sought to counter the figures by releasing their own polling data, which suggested their candidate holds a lead of nearly 10 points over Mr Corbyn.

Galloway was forced to leave the Labour Party back in 2003 after calling the then Labour government “Tony Blair’s lie machine” for involving the UK in the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Earlier today when he was asked in a radio interview whether he would rejoin a Corbyn-led party, he replied: “Definitely”. It would be hard for any person with a sense of history to avoid comparisons between Foot and Corbyn, or to notice that many of his young supporters would have no memory of the long, dark tunnel Labour passed through in the 1980s.

“Whoever the members elect as leader, it’s our duty to work with them”.

“That’s what New Labour was about and it worked brilliantly”. “I think they are pretty clear headed people, all of them”.