Owen Smith's Digs At Corbyn Over "Ugly" Labour

28 August 2016, 09:06 | Updated: 13 September 2016, 12:55

Owen Smith said Labour's debates under Jeremy Corbyn have been ugly as the leadership debate turned personal.

Speaking to Andrew Castle live on LBC, Mr Smith had several digs at Mr Corbyn over how Labour has turned sour in the last year.

He said: "We had a poll yesterday that showed us [Labour] at 29%. At that rate, we'll be down at 22% at the next election and Labour will be out of power for generations.

"I think that will be terrible for democracy and terrible for all the people who rely on a Labour government to have a fairer system in the UK.

"It is true that we've had an uglier debate in Labour in the last 11 months than we've ever had in my life and I don't think Jeremy can escape some responsibility for that as he's been the leader for that period."

Mr Smith was also asked about Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell suggesting that Richard Branson should be stripped of his knighthood for his part in the train-gate affair.

His brilliant response was: "That seems a bit much. He was merely pointing out the reality that Jeremy didn't need to sit on the floor.

"I can't imagine we'd strip somebody's honours for telling the truth."