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A rally will be held on Saturday in Liverpool city centre by supporters wanting Jeremy Corbyn to remain Labour leader.

The event, set to be held from midday, on Hanover Street, is being advertised on social media under the strapline “Unite against the Tories. Defend Jeremy Corbyn.”

It comes as more leading Labour figures today urged Mr Corbyn to quit as leader following what many frontbenchers have described as a lacklustre performance for the Remain campaign in the EU referendum.

Former culture secretary Tessa Jowell and former foreign secretary Dame Margaret Beckett today emerged as the latest politicians demanding Mr Corbyn stands down as leader.

A motion of no confidence in him was supported by three-quarters of the parliamentary party.

(Image: Lauren Hurley/PA Wire)

But Mr Corbyn, who this week saw up to 10,000 people marched on Parliament Square to express their support for him, has vowed to stay in post, and pledged not to “betray” his supporters by resigning.

Since the Liverpool rally backing Mr Corbyn was advertised, at around 9am this morning, around 200 people have promised to attend.

Tony Mulhearn, one of the leaders of Liverpool’s Militant tendency in the 1980s, and now of the Liverpool Socialist Party, urged people to turn up.

Describing the actions of Labour MPs withdrawing their support for Mr Corbyn as a “Blarite coup”, he said: “Liverpool Socialist Party last night condemned the coup by the Blairites and “Red Tories” including Liverpool MP Luciana Berger and Wallasey MP Angela Eagle.

“The blue Tories can barely contain their glee at the actions of the red Tories like Angela Eagle and Luciana Berger.

“Jeremy Corbyn needs to take decisive action now to defeat the plotters.

“Prepare for a general election with a clear anti-austerity, anti-racist programme – opposition to all cuts, £10 an hour minimum wage, mass council housing building and renationalisation.

“Call an immediate labour movement conference of all those who want to defend Jeremy Corbyn from the right!

“The unity of the left is now essential to defend the democratic voice of the rank and file.”

Tessa Jowell today described the leadership crisis as a “complete shambles” and said it was a “statement of the obvious” that Mr Corbyn must stand down.

Speaking directly to a TV camera, she said: “Jeremy, you love the Labour Party like I do and the Labour Party has given you every opportunity that you have been able to exercise to make life for your constituents better.

“You and I are in the same position in relation to that but it is absolutely clear that your continued leadership is putting the Labour Party’s future in jeopardy and denying millions of people in our country who so desperately need representation by a Labour government the chance of that Labour government.

“So I ask you to follow the strongest possible view of the parliamentary party and stand down.”

Asked what is going on in her party, she said: “It is a complete shambles and it is a statement of the obvious that Jeremy has got to stand down and allow a new leader to rebuild the party.”

She said the notion of a Labour government in the future seemed “a rather distant prospect” and called the current situation the “worst crisis” in her 45 years as a member of the party.

The ex-Cabinet minister also said it was not clear whether Mr Corbyn would be automatically on the ballot of any leadership election because of doubt over whether he has the support of enough MPs.

Pushed to offer names of potential leadership candidates, she said MPs currently in the frame for the leadership were Tom Watson, Angela Eagle and Yvette Cooper.

An emotional Dame Margaret Beckett, a former acting leader of the Labour Party, said in an interview: “When you assume leadership you have to understand that the interests of those you lead come before your own and in those interests I’m afraid he should stand aside.”