A Labour MP was booed after he proclaimed Jeremy Corbyn would be the ‘greatest Prime Minister this country has ever seen.’
Chris Williamson, who quit his post as Shadow Fire Minister a fortnight ago, made the comments during an edition of BBC Question Time from Dumfries in Scotland.
It came during a discussion on the rise of what one audience member called ‘extremists’ in the Corbyn-supporting Momentum group in the Labour party.
Mr Williamson, the MP for Derby North, disagreed with the label, telling the audience: ‘Momentum are not extremists. Absolutely not.
Chris Williamson, who quit his post as Shadow Fire Minister a fortnight ago, made the comments during an edition of BBC Question Time from Dumfries in Scotland
‘If you look at the Labour party now, it’s an exercise in democracy.’
He added that current party policies include renationalising utilities and scrapping tuition fees – which he says are in line with what Brits want.
When asked by host David Dimbleby whether he believed MPs who didn’t support Mr Corbyn were on the ‘wrong tack,’ he replied: ‘They’re not the Labour Party, are they?
‘They are a Parliamentary Labour Party.’
He claimed those members were an important, but the party comprised if 600,000 members.
A man in the audience asked: ‘If your party is so big and so powerful and coming forward, how come the best you have got to offer is Jeremy Corbyn?’
To this comment, a man in the audience asked: ‘If your party is so big and so powerful and coming forward, how come the best you have got to offer is Jeremy Corbyn?’
Mr Williamson responded: ‘In my humble opinion, Jeremy Corbyn is the best leader that the Labour Party has ever produced and would be the greatest Prime Minister this country’s ever seen.’
Speaking over loud applause and boos, he continued: ‘Because he will have a reforming agenda that will make this country work for ordinary people, eradicate poverty and have an economy that actually gives people a stake in society and a decent future, decent pensions, decent public services.
‘What is there not to like about that?’
His comments come days after he faced derision for claiming Mr Corbyn was a better leader than Clement Attlee.
In an interview with Russia Today, Mr William said: ‘Jeremy Corbyn is the best leader that this party has ever had and I include Clem Attlee in that as well.’
But Labour MPs mocked the claim – pointing out that Mr Attlee’s pioneering post-war Government created the NHS and built a generation of social housing, while Mr Corbyn has never even won a General Election.