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Roundup: Britain's Labour leader Corbyn offers peace formula to party colleagues

Xinhua, July 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

The first moves were taken Sunday to resolve the civil war engulfing Britain's main opposition Labour Party.

Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has seen virtually the whole of his front bench team resigning from his shadow cabinet, has offered a peace formula to his estranged party colleagues.

His move came after 172 Labour MPs at Westminster supported a vote of no confidence in Corbyn, and have since urged him to quit.

In other moves to restore harmony on the Labour benches, one of the party grandees, Lord John Prescott, has been suggested as a go-between, while Len McCluskey, general secretary of Britain's biggest trade union also intervened.

The Unite boss said trade union leaders, with their negotiating skills, had the ability to broker peace.

McCluskey called for an end to the fighting against Corbyn, adding that the leader had been the victim of a political lynching.

In a message published in a Labour-supporter Sunday newspaper, Corbyn said he was ready to reach out to the MPs who had opposed him.

"I am ready to reach out to Labour MPs who didn't accept my election and oppose my leadership, and work with the whole party to provide the alternative the country needs.," Corbyn said.

He added: "But they need to respect the democracy of our party and the views of Labour's membership."

Making it clear he has no intention of quitting, Corbyn added: "Those who want to challenge my leadership are free to do so in a democratic contest in which I will be a candidate."

Corbyn will learn in the coming days whether one of his MPs in the House of Commons will force a leadership contest.

He said Labour must respect the democratic decision of the British people and negotiate a new relationship with the EU.

Both main parties in Britain have been thrown into turmoil in the wake of the decision on June 23 to leave the EU.

Within hours of the leave vote winning, British Prime Minister David Cameron quit, with five Conservative MPs now in a fight to win the keys to 10 Downing Street.

All five used Sunday newspapers and political programs on television and radio to spell out why they would be the ideal successor to Cameron.

Frontrunner remains Home Secretary Theresa May, but two leading Brexiters, Justice Secretary Michael Gove and Andrea Leadsom, minister of state at Department of Energy and Climate Change, say pro-remain May is not the best person for the job. They want a brexit MP to handle what are expected to be tough negotiations with the EU over Britain's exit arrangements.

Also in the contest are former Defense Secretary Liam Fox and a rising star in the party, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Stephen Crabb.

Conservative MPs will start the process of ballots on Tuesday until just two candidates are left to enable party members to decide who should be the leader and prime minister. Endit