We urgently need a strong Labour party, it is essential for democracy. But the Blairites – call them what you will – have been systematically undermining Corbyn since the day he got elected, along with the rightwing press. They have done nothing to make the party stronger. Zoe Williams’s article (Labour’s differences don’t justify it tearing itself apart, 4 July) explains why I voted Corbyn in the first place. Nothing has changed, the need for stronger radical policy has indeed just got greater, as the referendum demonstrated somewhat obliquely.

Moreover, there seems to be no sensible alternative candidate yet. All the other candidates last time had little going for them (least of all the Blairite candidate), which is why Corbyn stood out. Eagle would be OK, but she couldn’t even win the deputy election last time. Would she allow a proper (as opposed to a destructive) election for leader, if she won? Corbyn will never resign, if it means he could not stand again. He believes (rightly or wrongly) that he would win again.

The problem is that his opponents want a rightwing party or nothing (essentially ignoring the members), and hence are hellbent on ruining what we had: a moderately dynamic coalition of socially minded people working together for the common good. Blair and his followers had no idea about doing that – he ignored the unions and the poor etc as a political force and effectively stamped on them (that is how they feel too). They have left a grim legacy, which was largely responsible (along with the Tories – and possibly Corbyn’s lukewarm support) for the Brexit majority, and Ukip.

Professor Klim McPherson

Visiting professor of public health epidemiology, Oxford University

• The leadership of Jeremy Corbyn has been subject to the most savage campaign of falsehood and misrepresentation in some of our most popular media outlets. He has, at different times, been derided, ignored, vilified and condemned. Few journalists attempted to fathom the reason for his overwhelming victory in the Labour leadership contest in 2015 and few have sought systematically and impartially to explore the policies he has promoted as leader. We do not expect journalists to give any elected leader an easy ride but Corbyn has been treated from the start as a problem to be solved rather than as a politician to be taken seriously. The reason is that he has never been part of the Westminster village or the media bubble and that he has never hidden his commitment to socialist politics. At a time when austerity, insecurity and racism remain real threats to the lives of many people in the UK, we believe that Jeremy Corbyn can help to provide a way out of the mess we are in. We condemn the unwarranted attacks on his leadership by an unelected media and call on those who want to see meaningful and progressive social change to stand behind Jeremy Corbyn.

Prof Greg Philo, Glasgow University

Prof Des Freedman, Goldsmiths, University of London

Prof Noam Chomsky, MIT

Prof Ed Herman, University of Pennsylvania

Prof Mica Nava, University of East London

Prof Robert McChesney, Southern Illinois University

Prof David Buckingham, Loughborough University

Prof Joanna Zylinska, Goldsmiths, University of London

Prof Peter Golding, Northumbria University

Prof Sue Clayton, Goldsmiths, University of London

Prof Michael Chanan, University of Roehampton

Prof Máire Messenger Davies, University of Ulster

Prof Andrew Chadwick, Royal Holloway, University of London

Prof Julian Petley, Brunel University

Prof Christian Fuchs, University of Westminster

Prof Michael Pickering, Loughborough University

Prof John Storey, University of Sunderland

Prof David Miller, University of Bath

Prof Geoff King, Brunel University

Prof Graham Murdock, Loughborough University

Prof Jeremy Gilbert, University of East London

Prof Mike Wayne, Brunel University

Prof Martin Barker, Aberystwyth University

John Pilger, writer and broadcaster

Thomas Barlow, co-founder, Real Media

Kam Sandhu, co-founder, Real Media

Gholam Khiabany, Goldsmiths, University of London

Milly Williamson, Brunel University

Becky Gardiner, Goldsmiths, University of London

Ben Taylor, Nottingham Trent University

Gary Morrisoe, Salford University

Narz Massoumi, University of Liverpool

Paul Ward, Bournemouth Film School

Jeremy Bubb, Roehampton University

Caroline Ruddell, Brunel University

Bart Cammaerts, London School of Economics

Jo Littler, City University

Michael Bailey, University of Essex

Ken Fero, Coventry University

Elizabeth Poole, Keele University

Justin Schlosberg, Birkbeck, University of London

Tom Mills, University of Bath

Dina Matar, SOAS, University of London

Simon Cross, Nottingham Trent University

Michael Klontzas, University of Huddersfield

Ian Lamond, Leeds Beckett University

Shohini Chaudhuri, University of Essex

Joss Hands, Newcastle University

Jamie Medhurst, Aberystwyth University

Seth Giddings, Winchester School of Art

Kostas Maronitis, Leeds Trinity University

Andreas Wittel, Nottingham Trent University

Rachel Payne, Oxford Brookes University

Sophie Knowles, Middlesex University

David Griggs, Edinburgh Napier University

Johnny Walker, Northumbria University

Anandi Ramsmurthy, Sheffield Hallam University

Lyn Champion, Nottingham Trent University

Jane Dipple, Winchester University

William Proctor, Bournemouth University

Jayne Raisborough, University of Brighton

Vicky Lowe, University of Manchester

Meena Dhanda, University of Wolverhampton

Brendan Byrne, Falmouth University

Dean Lockwood, University of Lincoln

Sara Bragg, University of Brighton

Steve Presence, University of the West of England

Janroj Yilmaz Keles, Middlesex University

Jon Baldwin, London Metropolitan University

Amber Jacobs, Birkbeck, University of London

Pat Holland, Bournemouth University

Mike Berry, Cardiff University

Dan Ward, Sunderland University

John Cunliffe, Birkbeck, University of London

Jane Barnwell, University of Westminster

Naomi Salaman, University of Brighton

David Rushton, Institute of Local Television

Catherine Walsh, Newcastle University

Louis Bayman, University of Southampton

Helen Rogers, Sun FM

Shelley Galpin, University of York

Paul Manning, University of Winchester

Trevor Hearing, Bournemouth University

Ann Luce, Bournemouth University

Ananay Aguilar, University of Cambridge

Gary Jenkins, Newcastle University

Meredith Jones, Brunel University

Neil Fox, Falmouth University

Diane Charlesworth, University of Lincoln

Fred Mudhai, Coventry University

Bianca Wright, Coventry University

Keith Hussein, University of Sunderland

Maria Chatzichristodoulou, London South Bank University

Vana Goblot, Goldsmiths, University of London

Nigel Morris, University of Lincoln

Steve Jones, Nottingham Trent University

Oksana Fedotova, Sheffield Hallam University

A A Piccini, University of Bristol

Remi Joseph-Salisbury, University of Leeds

Emma Sandon, Birkbeck, University of London

Silke Arnold-de Simine, Birkbeck, University of London

Ewan Kirkland, University of Brighton

Peri Braadley, Bournemouth University

Savyasaachi Jain, University of Westminster

Deborah Gabriel, Bournemouth University

Jill Daniels, University of East London

Richard MacDonald, Goldsmiths, University of London

Murali Shanmugavelan, SOAS, University of London

John Steel, University of Sheffield

William Merrin, Swansea University

Andrew Shail, Newcastle University

Ceiren Bell, Goldsmiths, University of London

Virginia Pitts, University of Kent

Joseph Oldham, University of Warwick

Rachel O’Neill, University of York

Jonathan Eato, University of York

Harrison Banfield

Maya Sherwin

Benjamin Paul Judah

Lucy Shaw

Rebecca Pyne

Elizabeth Daniels

Zey Suka-Bill

Elizabeth Hughes

Gabriel Moreno

Martin Hall

Margaret Gallagher

• Jeremy Corbyn feels the Labour MPs trying to oust him should respect the mandate he has been handed by a majority of Labour members (We can’t leave the negotiations with Europe to the Tories, 8 July). Yet he also acknowledges two-thirds of Labour supporters voted remain. Does this not constitute a mandate to fight to keep us in the EU (rather than simply negotiate a better exit than the Tories would)? Do we really need to remind him that the referendum is not the end of the matter and that this nation is run by parliament? A serious argument is being made that we cannot (and should not) trigger Brexit without a vote in parliament, or perhaps even a general election. It seems Corbyn has no interest in this battle, which I find very disappointing. Perhaps the 172 MPs who have no confidence in him are similarly disappointed, and should be respected for the mandate they have to ensure the Labour party remains a pro-EU party?

Sotirios Hatjoullis

London

• Messrs Kinnock and Miliband concede that Corbyn has the support of the members and supporters. However, they argue that, as he does not command the confidence of the PLP, he should resign. But we can very easily turn Kinnock’s and Miliband’s logic against them. As the PLP does not command the confidence of the party members and supporters, they should do the logical thing – they should put themselves up for reselection. This would, it can be guaranteed, solve all the problems of the present situation, for the outcome of this democratic process would then give us a PLP that would command the confidence of the members and supporters, and Corbyn would then command the confidence of the PLP. Two birds killed with one stone. I ask you, which logic is the democratic one: Kinnock’s and Miliband’s, or democracy’s?

Dragan Plavsic

Oxford

• Thank you, George Monbiot (Labour can still survive, but only if it abandons hope of governing alone, 5 July), for saying what many of us already believe, that the parties to the centre and left of British politics should form a progressive alliance. However, I differ on two essential points. Our first-past-the-post system rewarded Ukip’s 3.9 million votes last May with just one seat. I view that as a huge positive for the electoral status quo. And, if George thinks a victorious progressive alliance would change the system that elected it, he need only look at history. Winners never change the rules. Second, Labour’s hardline trades unions won’t share power with its party’s PLP, let alone with Tim Farron and Caroline Lucas. To join a progressive alliance it is imperative for Labour to find alternative funding. I would suggest crowdfunding. Thirty million voters did not support the Tories or Ukip last May. At just £1 per person per year, that’s an awful lot of democracy.

David Hughes

Cheltenham

• As a Labour member I’ve been thinking lately that Labour politics is essentially like the wars of the roses. Ed Miliband was Henry VI, the weak feeble king at the end of a line of great fighting leaders. Corbyn is Edward IV, a triumphant leader, new and fresh, but who is plagued by the schemes and devices of his council and ministers, eg McDonnell and Abbott to name but a few. The next step will be for McDonnell to take over as Labour’s Richard III tearing the party into open civil war where political brother will fight political brother. This leaves me to ask, who will be the leader acceptable to all? Who will be our Henry VII?

Timothy Sykes

Cambridge

• Angela Eagle is making a very good fist of playing Hamlet, playing Brutus.

Wade Mansell

Birchington on Sea, Kent

• The signatory list in the first letter above was amended on 19 July 2016 to clarify the identity of one of the signatories: in an earlier version, he was identified as Ben Judah; he is now listed as Benjamin Paul Judah.