Jeremy Corbyn has insisted he will see off Nigel Farage in the upcoming local elections, saying: “We’re not worried about him.”
The Labour leader dismissed the ex-UKIP chief’s new Brexit Party as “simple populism”, saying: “Farage just says, ‘Let’s get out of Europe without a deal’.
“But I do think he has to be challenged. If you just walk away from Europe, the complications are immense. There’s a very integrated manufacturing process with us and Europe.
Many of our factories rely on just-in-time deliveries from Europe and deliver to Europe on a just-in-time basis. If that is disrupted there are massive problems.”
Nigel Farage's Brexit Party is a 'very serious threat' to Labour warns top peer
Mr Corbyn also said he plans to “heal” Britain by bringing both sides of the fractured country together around his Brexit deal.
And he told of his frustration at the slow pace of talks.
He said: “Parliament has to modernise. The interesting thing about the Brexit debates is that Parliament has asserted itself, stepping up to control the timetable.
“Because of Brexit there are more people watching Parliament than ever before. That’s a good thing but the rituals and the language are alien to most of the country.”
Mr Corbyn also said he hoped for more progress on the representation of women and BAME in the Labour Party, housing, crime, schools, the environment and homelessness.
UKIP candidate who said he 'wouldn't even rape' a Labour MP refuses to apologise
It comes after a top Labour peer told The Mirror that Nigel Farage's new party 'posed a very serious threat' to Labour.
Lord Maurice Glasman said the newly-founded group was a risk to his party if voters felt Labour had ignored the result of the 2016 referendum and backed a second vote.
Lord Glasman said the Brexit Party would “capture the rage of people who feel like their democratic vote had been disregarded”.
Issuing the warning at a panel organised by Labour Leave, he urged the party not to “sneer” at people who voted to quit the bloc.
Support for Brexit in working class areas was “robust and not moving”, he believed.
