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Don't give up, Jeremy Corbyn urges Labour | Don't give up, Jeremy Corbyn urges Labour |
(about 2 hours later) | |
Jeremy Corbyn has said Labour's by-election loss shows "the scale of how hard our task is to persuade people of our message". | |
In a speech, he urged his party to "remain united", and not to "give up". | In a speech, he urged his party to "remain united", and not to "give up". |
Labour lost the seat of Copeland, in Cumbria, to the Conservatives last week - the first by-election gain by a governing party in 35 years. | Labour lost the seat of Copeland, in Cumbria, to the Conservatives last week - the first by-election gain by a governing party in 35 years. |
Tory chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin said it had been a "fantastic result" for Prime Minister Theresa May. | |
Labour's deputy leader, Tom Watson, accused some of Mr Corbyn's "cheerleaders" of "peeling away from him" during a difficult time. | |
While the party lost in Cumbria, the party managed to hold off a challenge from UKIP in a by-election, in Stoke-on-Trent Central, on Thursday. | |
In his speech to the Scottish Labour Party conference in Perth, Mr Corbyn said: "The policies and ideas we are setting out are policies whose time has come. But to win that fight we need to remain united." | |
But Mr Corbyn, Labour leader since 2015, said: "The scale of how hard our task is to persuade people of our message was underlined just this week in Copeland. | But Mr Corbyn, Labour leader since 2015, said: "The scale of how hard our task is to persuade people of our message was underlined just this week in Copeland. |
"Whilst we stood up to hatred and division in Stoke, I cannot lie and say the result in Copeland was what we wanted. But now is not the time to retreat, to run away or to give up." | "Whilst we stood up to hatred and division in Stoke, I cannot lie and say the result in Copeland was what we wanted. But now is not the time to retreat, to run away or to give up." |
Mr Corbyn called losing Copeland - which had been held by the party since its creation in 1983 - "deeply disappointing" and added that he took "my share of responsibility". | Mr Corbyn called losing Copeland - which had been held by the party since its creation in 1983 - "deeply disappointing" and added that he took "my share of responsibility". |
Questioned about his future after the speech, Mr Corbyn said: "I'm carrying on as leader because I'm determined that we will deliver social justice in this country." | |
Asked if he would still be in place in 2020, when the next general election is expected to take place, he replied: "I've given you a very, very clear answer - yes." | |
Speaking on BBC One's Andrew Marr Show, Sir Patrick McLoughlin said: "Copeland was a fantastic result for the prime minister." | Speaking on BBC One's Andrew Marr Show, Sir Patrick McLoughlin said: "Copeland was a fantastic result for the prime minister." |
He added: "It shows that all seats are seats that we will look at, and we are going to challenge hard at the general election." | He added: "It shows that all seats are seats that we will look at, and we are going to challenge hard at the general election." |
Meanwhile Tom Watson, told ITV1's Peston on Sunday the team who got Mr Corbyn elected for a second time "seem to be peeling away from him" and he queried where Unite union general secretary Len McCluskey was at this "difficult time". | |
He said it should not just be up to him to defend Mr Corbyn, but a Unite spokesman said that as Labour's deputy leader it was "his job to address the issues facing the party in the wake of the by-elections." | |
"Len McCluskey's job is to address the issues that are the foremost priorities for Unite's members," he added. | |