Coronavirus: Corbyn warns next Labour leader not to join unity government with Tories

Jeremy Corbyn has warned his successor as Labour leader not to get into a government of national unity with Conservatives to help fight the coronavirus.

The outgoing leader, who is expected to be replaced by Keir Starmer on Saturday, said that giving up the responsibility to oppose and challenge the government would be “a negation of what our democratic society is about”

As Corbyn prepared to step down after five years at the helm, his wife Laura Alvarez broke her long-standing silence to voice her pride in her husband and declare she would “never regret our dream of a better quality of life for everybody”.

Asked whether Labour should be offering its support to the government to help the country get through the coronavirus crisis, Mr Corbyn told the Daily Telegraph’s Chopper’s Podcast: ”It's the duty of opposition parties to hold it up into account and that is exactly what we're doing.

"I think we should be challenging the government and challenging them on the economic response, challenging them on job security, and that is the way to get better government and better decisions.

"If everybody got together and said 'we're all absolutely in this together; we won't criticise each other' - that is a negation of what our democratic society is about."

Mr Corbyn has said that Labour would have moved faster to ramp up Covid-19 testing if he had been in power.

Writing in the Daily Mirror, Ms Alvarez took aim at Mr Corbyn’s opponents inside the Labour Party and urged his supporters to keep up their fight for the values he represents.

“It has been hard for me to watch my husband vilified and hear his words twisted by his political opponents,” she said. “It has been harder to watch him attacked by his party.

“I want to thank those who voted for Labour, and especially those who stood with my husband.

“We know you shared our values. If equality, humanity, honesty and kindness are called Corbynism, then that's all right with me.

With Starmer thought likely to sideline the hard left if he defeats “continuity Corbyn” candidate Rebecca Long-Bailey as expected on Saturday, Ms Alvarez sent a defiant message to her husband’s supporters not to abandon his cause.

"I will never regret our dream of a better quality of life for everybody,” she said.

"It is now up to our movement to ensure it does not remain a dream."

Mr Corbyn himself indicated he may resume his role as a backbench rebel under the new leadership, saying: "It depends what the votes are and what the issues are - I always believe in being true to oneself.”

He added: “I will be doing my best to encourage others to be active and to stand up for all the causes that I believe so passionately in."