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Lisa Nandy has called for references to the British empire in the honours system, saying it should instead recognise “British excellence”.

Nandy, who is half-Indian spoke of the need for the honours system to bring people together rather than shut them out.

At a hustings in Bristols, she said: “It was [poet] Benjamin Zephaniah who balked at the prospect of accepting an OBE – the Order of the British Empire. Why not a choice to provide the Order of British Excellence?

"Why does the honours system, which should recognise the contribution of our people, shut people out, rather than bring people in?

“That is the country I want to build, and the Labour party I will lead. That never accepts the world as it is but builds the world as it should be. As Benjamin Zephaniah asked: ‘What happened to the verse of fire?’ We can be far more ambitious.”

During the hour and a half long debate the four candidates found common ground on the need to invest in social care, housing, education and the need to tackle climate change.

But when it came to reforming the Labour Party some of the divisions were exposed.

Lisa Nandy and Rebecca Long-Bailey clashed over changing how MPs are selected.

Shadow business secretary Ms Long-Bailey told supporters at a hustings in Bristol that she would bring in open selections if she was elected leader to cheers from the audience.

(Image: Getty Images)

The move would make it easier for local party branches to deselect sitting MPs before elections.

"Being an MP is not a job for life," said Ms Thornberry who said that poor MPs should be deselected by their members.

But Wigan MP Ms Nandy told the audience she disagreed with her rival's views.

(Image: Getty Images)

"The MPs I want to get rid of are Tories, not Labour," the former shadow energy secretary said.

While Keir Starmer did not talk about a change in the rules but focused instead of changing the "culture".

He called for Labour to start the process to select new candidates as quickly as possible so that they are "open and transparent and there's no imposition from the NEC" - as happened before the general election.