'Labour's Legacy Is The Problem, Not Corbyn'

26 February 2017, 10:12 | Updated: 26 February 2017, 10:34

Hilary Wainwright, Co-Editor of left-wing publication Red Pepper, defends Labour's Jeremy Corbyn in an interview with Andrew Castle.

Following Labour's Copeland loss, Sunday morning LBC Presenter Andrew Castle asked his listeners whether the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn should stand down.

He spoke to Hilary Wainwright, Co-Editor of radical left-wing publication Red Pepper, who passionately defended Corbyn - saying he is not to blame for the dip in Labour's popularity. 

She said: "Look at the people of Stoke. OK they didn't turn out for the election in great numbers, that's because of the British system, and because of how they've been neglected, and been treated by contempt."

Andrew responded: "They lost two per cent of the vote."

Hilary said: "But they came out and they voted for Labour , and the point is Jeremy's got a huge legacy of a Labour party that has treated voters with contempt.  

"He's speaking to people about their daily lives, about what's happening to the NHS, about unemployment."

Andrew said: "But they're not buying [it] Hilary, though."

Hilary went on: "Those are things people do care about, it's not Marxist mumbo jumbo to be actually angry about what's happening to people on benefits, to be angry about what's happening to the NHS."

Andrew wasn't convinced: "You can be angry, and you can want change, and you can be principled and all of these things and all of us understand those points, and they're relevant in varying degrees to all of our lives, but if people are not buying the message from that particular messenger, you have to change that particular messenger, otherwise nothing is going to change. 

 "And you are just going to be waving a placard and having a go at people."