Corbyn says he will not stand down as Labour leader

“What I’m totally amazed by is that in the past 24 hours 140,000 people have said they do not want the Labour Party to spend the next two months debating the leadership”, he said, citing an online petition calling for him to remain leader.

In a speech setting out Labour’s response to the Brexit vote, Mr Corbyn focused on the need to maintain social and employment protections after European Union withdrawal and to take account of the sense of “powerlessness” felt by Labour voters who opted for Leave on Thursday.

Vote Leave campaign director Dominic Cummings said it was “unthinkable” to invoke Article 50 before a new PM is in place.

He told an audience of supporters: “We can’t duck the issue of immigration”.

“If you have got a leader who appears half-hearted, you can hardly be surprised if the public feels the same way”, added Coffey.

With ex-London mayor Boris Johnson firm favourite to succeed Mr Cameron at the Tory helm, Labour’s Ken Livingstone attacked media “obsession” with the pair, which he said drowned out the real issues in the debate.

If accepted it would be followed by a secret ballot of Labour MPs on Tuesday.

Mr Corbyn can be seen replying: “I did all I could”.

I think he should reflect on his position and do the decent thing in the same way David Cameron has done, ‘ she said. This in itself would not trigger a new contest, but a significant expression of opposition to Corbyn could lead to a challenger putting themselves forward.

Speculation that Mr Corbyn could step down and recommend shadow chancellor John McDonnell as his replacement has been dismissed as “nonsense” by Mr McDonnell’s aides.

Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to fight on as Labour leader as he faces a vote of no confidence next week.

On Friday following the result of the European Union referendum, two Labour MPs, Dame Margaret Hodge and Ann Coffey, submitted a motion of no confidence in Mr Corbyn, calling for a discussion about his leadership at the next party meeting on Monday.

“As we move to a new phase, I don’t believe it is right that I should carry on as the British commissioner as though nothing had happened”, said a statement by Mr Hill, a former member of Britain’s House of Lords.

“The point I was making was there were good things that had come from Europe in working conditions and environmental protections but there were other issues that had not been addressed properly”.

The defiant stance came as former minister Frank Field became the latest senior Labour figure to publicly criticise the leader.

Sky News” senior political correspondent Sophy Ridge said several MPs have told her they would be prepared to back the motion, predicting it will be “overwhelmingly passed’.

Since Labour party members, who overwhelmingly backed the Islington MP in last year’s contest, have the final say over the party leader, Corbyn is likely to win any tussle in which they are given a say.

“We clearly need somebody who the public think of as an alternative prime minister”, Field told BBC radio.

A weird statement leaked yesterday from Mr Corbyn’s team, said: Jeremy Corbyn has showed that he is far closer to the centre of gravity of the British public than other politicians.