14:48

Angela Eagle has said that it’s “about time” that the Labour party had its first female leader as she suggested that Owen Smith should allow her to have a clear run in her bid to replace Jeremy Corbyn. Eagle was interviewed in the last few minutes on Channel 4 News, where she was asked about Smith’s widely reported interest in challenging for the leadership.



“The Conservatives have their second woman prime minister. The Labour party is the part of equality, who pioneered anti-discrimination legislation. It’s about time that they had their first women leader,” said Eagle, who added that she did not know what Smith was going to do.

She went on the offensive against Corbyn over his suggestion on the morning of the referendum result that article 50 – the formal mechanism for leaving the European Union – should be triggered swiftly. “I was shocked when Jeremy came out and said that we should trigger article 50 straight away,” said Eagle.



Asked whether she would try to reverse the result of the referendum, she replied: “I think we have to accept that the country has voted to leave, but that does not mean we should trigger it before we have done all the work [of negotiating].”

The UK should not be rushing towards the exit, said Eagle, who was also pressed on her support for the Iraq war. “I do regret the vote on the Iraq war, and if I had known then what we do now, I would not have voted for it,” she said.

