Elaine Murray backs Jeremy Corbyn leadership bid

He added: ” The alternative to Syriza/ Corbyn is based on passionate reform, not angry defiance.

He said the Labour party should be “neither a pale imitation of what the Tories offer nor is it the route to being a party of permanent protest, rather than a party of government”.

At the beginning many of Mr Corbyn’s supporters got in touch to say they enjoyed the jokes, but as the days went on the comments began to turn.

The two sides have adopted starkly different approaches, Mr Burnham reaching out to Corbyn supporters by stressing the “good deal of common ground” between them.

Behind the scenes in the parliamentary party, a last-minute push is under way by the Cooper and Burnham camps to position themselves as the only candidate who can beat Corbyn.

Yvette Cooper launched a scathing attack on Labour leadership front-runner Jeremy Corbyn yesterday and claimed the party should no longer be run by “white men”.

“MP’s critical of Labour party leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn have received a bevy of anti-Semitic messages, even those within his same party, calling them “utter filth” and Zionist stooges”, The Jewish Chronicle reported Monday.

He confirmed he would be supporting Liz Kendall – widely seen as from the same wing of the party – as his first choice to replace his brother, Doncaster North MP Ed Miliband.

“When it comes to higher education and tuition fees, I would look to introduce a new graduate tax to help lower fees and I would also create a university-style support for people looking to get apprenticeships”.

Referring to trade union banners in the museum declaring “unity is strength”, he said: “If our forefathers and mothers could give ask us to bear in mind one piece of advice right now, then surely it would be that”.

“It is one of our principles – not an evasion of our principles – that we must seek to secure power for social justice”.

“Andy Burnham is real, he’s authentic and I think he can win”.

Whoever triumphs in the contest will be able to mould the party as they see fit, he added.

The group said that Corbyn was more trustworthy, more in touch with ordinary people, and more intelligent than the other candidates – Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall. “I have said the same about Islamaphobia and other forms of racism to a minority of my constituents who make unacceptable statements”.

“I would want him to be a strong member of my team because I want my strongest players on the pitch”. “I have no idea where that came from”.

In an interview with The Guardian earlier this month, Ms Dugdale questioned how “a guy that’s broken the whip 500 times” can enforce party discipline, and said she has yet to be convinced he can be prime minister.

He told hundreds of supporters in Edinburgh: “I learnt about the four horsemen of the apocalypse, only three have arrived so far”.