Face of Nation : Jeremy Corbyn has sought to play down divisions within his top team after one of his closest aides said he would quit and criticised the party’s leadership. Andrew Fisher’s exit comes after a failed bid to oust deputy leader Tom Watson, as Labour conference begins.
On the second day of its conference, Labour is unveiling plans to scrap Ofsted and replace it with a new school inspection system. Mr Corbyn said the regulator was too “assertive” and its system of oversight needed to be more “supportive” of schools and pupils.
Labour is also promising to axe prescription charges in England if the party wins power, taking it in line with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, where they are already free.
Mr Corbyn said he got on well with both men and Mr Fisher was “extremely distressed” when he wrote a memo saying the leader’s office was “incompetent”. He said he would serve five years if elected PM, adding: “Why wouldn’t I?”
He also defended the party’s Brexit policy – to be debated later – amid calls for him to come out unambiguously to remain in the EU rather than sit on the fence. While most Labour supporters wanted to remain in the EU, he said the party must respect the result of the Brexit referendum and do more to understand why people voted to leave.
Mr Corbyn would not be drawn on which side he would back, saying “let’s see” what kind of new deal he was able to negotiate with the EU. However, he suggested he would ultimately go along with whatever party members decided at a special conference which could be held to settle the issue.
At a fringe event at the party’s conference, deputy leader Tom Watson said Labour was a “remain party” and should lead the campaign to remain in the EU in a second referendum. “By backing a people’s vote, by backing remain, I am sure we can deliver the Labour government the people of this country so badly need,” he said.
Ahead of next week’s Supreme Court’s ruling on whether the suspension of Parliament is lawful or not, Mr Corbyn said if the judges found against Boris Johnson, MPs must be recalled. If that happened, he said he would “take immediate action” in Parliament along with other opposition parties to put pressure on the prime minister. But Conservative chairman James Cleverly said Mr Corbyn could not say whether he would back Brexit even if the party negotiated its own deal. “Jeremy Corbyn can’t even make up his mind on the most important issue facing the country. He would delay Brexit until at least 2020 and even longer if the EU demand it.”
