Owen Smith still 'receiving death threats' after leadership bid against Jeremy Corbyn
‘I had police at my surgery last Friday because of some of the death threats I’ve had,’ he said
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Owen Smith has revealed he still receives death threats three months on from an unsuccessful attempt to oust Jeremy Corbyn.
The former Labour leadership contender said he had “lots and lots” of threats but does no regret his decision to challenge the Labour leader following the EU referendum.
Mr Smith, the MP for Pontypridd, made clear he would not follow Jamie Reed, a Labour MP and persistent Corbyn critic, who announced this last week he would resign from Parliament to pursue a career outside politics.
Mr Smith, who has refused to return to the shadow Cabinet since quitting ahead of his leadership challenge, told The Guardian that the Labour leader had improved since his resounding win.
“I had police at my surgery last Friday because of some of the death threats I've had,” Mr Smith said. “Some of those are to do with the contest and some of those are to do with other political things I've said.”
He said he was not surprised by the attacks he was subjected to during the leadership contest. “Part of the big difference was definitely social media, and the extent to which Jeremy supporters were very, very active, and very aggressive on social media,” he said. “I think they did very effectively play the man as well as the ball.”
Looking at Mr Corbyn’s performance since the leadership election, Mr Smith said: “I think he’s definitely done better at Prime Minister’s Questions. He’s been much sharper at PMQs, more forensic, and pursued a single theme more effectively, so I think that’s really encouraging.”
But he warned: “Anybody who looks at modern politics across the world and thinks that parties can’t disappear, is looking with their eyes closed. It can absolutely happen.
“As I said over the summer, parties take a long time to rise, but history shows they can disappear overnight.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments