Councillors call for Corbyn to step down

Councillor Allen Brett is calling for Jeremy Corbyn to step down

More than 500 Labour councillors, including five from Rochdale Borough Council, have signed a public statement calling on Jeremy Corbyn to resign as leader.

Councillors Allen Brett, Kieran Heakin, Donna Martin, Alan McCarthy and Liam O’Rourke, have joined Labour MPs to call for Mr Corbyn to step down and "make way for the new leadership".

The letter has been signed by 537 councillors across the country, more than double the number of signatories to another letter giving their continued backing to Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.

The letter states: "As Labour councillors we support the recent call from colleagues for new leadership at the top of our party.

"Jeremy Corbyn is an honourable man with a record of public service stretching back more than four decades, not least in local government.

"We are drawn from a number of traditions within our movement, including those who voted for Jeremy last year.

"It has now become clear, however, that he is unable to command the confidence of the whole party nor of many traditional Labour supporters we speak with on the doorstep.

"Our country is facing a crisis - and the neighbourhoods we represent are on the front line. We urge Jeremy Corbyn to make way for the new leadership that our communities so desperately need."