Jeremy Corbyn Declared Winner Of Final Labour Leadership Debate In Gateshead

Corbyn Scores Huge Win In Gateshead Debate

Jeremy Corbyn was declared the winner of the final Labour leadership debate by a huge margin tonight, despite being accused of offering “false promises” by Yvette Cooper.

The Islington North MP lapped up applause from an audience of Labour voters in Gateshead as he set out his vision for the country.

An online poll for Sky News, who broadcast the debate, deemed that Mr Corbyn won the clash – with 80.7 percent of viewers using Sky Pulse giving him the victory.

Labour's Jeremy Corbyn arrives to take part in a Labour party leadership final debate, at the Sage in Gateshead, England, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015

Mr Corbyn won applause from the 200 or so audience members with a string of left wing statements, including a rejection of further public sector cuts, attacking the free market nature of the European Union and opposing further bombing campaigns against ISIL.

The final moments of the debate saw Ms Cooper and Mr Corbyn square off over the veteran MP’s plan to fund infrastructure investment by printing more money – dubbed People’s Quantitative Easing.

The Shadow Home Secretary said: "You're offering people false promises. Quantitative easing has stopped because the economy is now growing. If you simply keep printing money when an economy is growing it simply increases inflation.

"You're offering people false promise. It sounds brilliant - everyone claps because everyone wants to the see the schools and hospitals done. It's dishonest, it's false promise, we've got to offer people real hope. You're not being straight with people."

Mr Corbyn dismissed the claims, and said leading economists supported his plans and a similar policy had helped boost the Japanese economy.

Liz Kendall repeatedly claimed Labour needed to prove its economic credibility to millions of voters who backed the Tories in May’s General Election. She received the least amount of applause in the hall.

Jeremy Corbyn, Yvette Cooper, Liz Kendall, and Andy Burnham, pose for the media at the end of the Labour party leadership final debate at the Sage in Gateshead, England, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015

Andy Burnham’s best moment came when he appealed for the party to come together after the leadership election, and defended the achievements of past leader Tony Blair.

He said: "To direct all this anger at man who won three General Elections and say he doesn't have a right to speak out... is ridiculous. This party could go into a period of infighting coming out of this leadership election. If Labour does that, we will let down millions of people out there."

Labour members have until September 10 to cast their ballots, with the winner revealed at a special London conference on September 12.

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