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Ed Miliband has called for Jeremy Corbyn to resign, adding "I am not a Blairite; I am not a plotter."

He told the BBC Radio 4 that Britain is in the grip of the worst national crisis since World War II, adding: “I think at that moment we need to think about the country.”

He went on: “I’ve supported Jeremy Corbyn all the way along, from the moment he was elected, because I thought it was the right thing to do. “I think a lot of what he stands for is very important for us going forward, but I’ve reluctantly reached the conclusion that his position is untenable.”

(Image: PA)

He went on to admit that if he’d been put in Jeremy Corbyn’s position while he was leader: “I would have gone.

“Because - and this is one of the reasons I’m speaking out, because of what people are saying about this process - if you look at the people who are saying that Jeremy should go, it’s not people on one wing of the Labour party.

"I had some troubles with people in the Labour party, some of them ideological, some of them to do with other issues.

“But this is not ideological.

(Image: Christopher Furlong/Getty)

“I actually think that genuinely lots of people who, when Jeremy was elected, would have disagreed with a lot of what he said have actually come to think that some of what he’s been saying is right.

“Some of what John McDonnell has been doing as Shadow Chancellor has been right. A lot of that can continue. “It’s more likely, I think, to continue if we have a peaceful transition, if you like, than a civil war in our party.”

(Image: Christopher Furlong)

Host Martha Kearney asked Mr Miliband: “If it’s not ideological, what is it?”

He replied: “People across the party have reached the view that particularly at this time of acute crisis for the country, Jeremy cannot rise to that challenge.

“It pains me to say that. I don’t want to make a judgement on Jeremy - and this is why I haven’t spoken out until now - but lots of people across the party have made that judgement and I totally respect that judgement.”

Kearney noted many party members do still support him, and he won 60% of the votes in the election just nine months ago.

“He did win a big mandate, but I’ve had people in my own party who voted for Jeremy, who’ve come to me and said to me: “Ed, I think you should speak out.”

“Now other people in my party will disagree with that, so I’m not saying it’s one way or the other, but I want Labour party members in particular to listen to me on this.

“Before Jeremy was elected, last summer, I was in Australia and people were saying “you’ve got to speak out against him.”

“I said no, because it’s for the party to decide. “Then when he was elected people said I’ve got to speak out against him and I said no.

“Then throughout his tenure people have said I’ve got to speak out against him, and I said no.

“So I have not been rushing to the microphones. I’ve been, if anything, defending him whenever I’ve been asked.”