It is duty and responsibility of all MPs to get behind party after vote and work together against Tories, Corbyn says

Jeremy Corbyn has called for the support of rebel Labour MPs if he is re-elected as party leader, saying it is “the duty and the responsibility” of the parliamentary party to back him if he sees off the challenge of Owen Smith.

Answering questions after a speech in which he formally launched his bid to be re-elected, Corbyn directed criticism at Smith over his former job in private healthcare, but said he would still welcome the former shadow pensions secretary back to his frontbench.

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Although Corbyn said he would “offer a hand of friendship” to discontented MPs, he raised the prospect of their potential deselection by members if national constituency boundary changes came into force before the next general election.

Asked about deselection, Corbyn said that if the current parliament sat until 2020, the new boundaries would take effect. “In that case, there will be a full selection process with every constituency,” he said. “But the sitting MP will have an opportunity to put their name forward. So there will be a full and open selection process for every constituency Labour party throughout the whole of the UK.”

Labour members, supporters and union affiliates will vote on the leadership in September after a majority of the party’s MPs rebelled against Corbyn.

In a bullish speech at the Institute of Education in central London, Corbyn made virtually no mention of the leadership challenge, instead laying out policy proposals for a future government, including a much-trailed proposal to extend equal pay audits to smaller firms.

Answering questions afterwards, Corbyn was asked about the rebellion that resulted in him losing a vote of no confidence by a considerable margin. That defeat was followed by challenges from Smith and Angela Eagle, the latter of whom has now dropped out of the race.

MPs were “part of, but not the entirety of, the Labour party”, Corbyn said, referring to his popularity among members. The total membership grew in recent days after 180,000 new registered supporters signed up before Wednesday’s deadline to be able to vote.

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Corbyn made it plain he expected rebels to fall into line if he beat Smith. “Because, come September, when this election is done and dusted, there will still be a Tory government in office, there will still be grotesque levels of inequality in our society, there will still be whole parts of this country that are left behind,” he said.

Striking the lectern with his hand in emphasis, Corbyn continued: “It is the duty and the responsibility of every Labour MP to get behind the party at that point and put it against the Tories for the different, fairer, kinder Britain that we can build together. And I appeal to them to work together.”

He added with a smile: “I have an ability to very conveniently forget some of the unpleasant things that were said about me.”

Asked whether he agreed with comments made earlier on Thursday by his ally Diane Abbott, in which she criticised Smith for having been a “lobbyist” for the pharmaceuticals industry in a pre-politics job, Corbyn said he had not heard the interview.

“I hope Owen will fully agree with me that the NHS should be free at the point of use, should be run by public sector workers from the NHS, not private companies,” Corbyn said, adding that medical research should not be “farmed out” to pharmaceutical multinationals.

“I just hope – and I am sure he will – that Owen will come fully on board on the idea of our NHS being totally public,” Corbyn said.

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Asked about the polls, which show Labour lagging some way behind the Conservatives and Corbyn facing hugely negative personal ratings, the Labour leader said these would shift. “I think that once the leadership election is over, many will realise the importance of the message we are putting forwards.”

He added, to cheers from supporters packed into the venue: “This party is going places. This party is strong. This party is capable of winning a general election.”

Corbyn’s speech, the main section of which was released in advance, made no mention of the polls, but did talk about byelection and mayoral vote success for the party, and the growing membership.

Aside from the equal pay initiative, there were no new policy announcements, but Corbyn said he planned to unveil new policies each week for the next few months.