Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader, has called for Jeremy Corbyn to resign, saying he has lost the confidence of the party’s MPs in parliament and his position has become untenable.  Miliband, who introduced the leadership election process that helped Corbyn sweep to power last September, and whom some MPs blamed for dragging the party to the left, had previously supported Corbyn.  But after rolling mass resignations from the shadow cabinet, which have continued into Tuesday with Pat Glass resigning as shadow education secretary just two days after being appointed, Milband said it was time for Labour to unite around an alternative candidate.  “We in the Labour party need to think about the country. I’ve supported Jeremy Corbyn all the way along, from the moment he was elected. It was the right thing to do.,” Miliband told the BBC. “I think a lot of what he stands for is very important for us going forward. But I’ve reluctantly reached a conclusion that his position is untenable.”  Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, is seeking urgent talks with Corbyn in an attempt to broker a compromise that would prevent the party plunging into a snap leadership contest, as Angela Eagle prepares to launch a challenge by the end of the day.  Sources close to Watson – who as Corbyn’s deputy would become caretaker leader if he chooses to resign – said: “Everyone needs to calm down and try and prevent a civil war in the Labour party. We should not rush into a leadership contest that would be irreversible.”  Glass, who had already decided to step down from parliament at the next general election, tweeted: “It is with a heavy heart that I have today resigned as Shadow SoS Education. My dream job but the situation is untenable.”  Related: What are the rules for a Labour leadership race?  Emma Lewell-Buck has stepped down as a shadow communities and local government minister, and 77 Labour councillors have signed a letter saying Corbyn should go.  All of Labour’s 20 MEPs published a statement withdrawing their support from the leader. One senior party source said: “It’s not a coup, it’s a riot.”  Eagle is gathering support among MPs and is expected to launch a fomal challenge if Corbyn does not resign. She and Watson are both regarded as contenders, but others including the shadow work and pensions secretary, Owen Smith, could also run if a contest is triggered.  One Labour MP backing Eagle said there was “a lot of satellite traffic” between her camp and Watson’s – and said they were likely to regard any attempt to persuade Corbyn to step aside as manoeuvring by the deputy leader.  Corbyn’s allies have made clear that he has no intention of stepping aside, and members of his team are readying themselves for a contest.  The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, has told MPs seeking to overthrow Corbyn that they must accept his leadership if he sees off the challenge. He also called for an end to “nastiness”.  A defiant Corbyn has vowed to fight on despite an overwhelming vote of no confidence by his own MPs, who declared their wish to see him gone by a margin of more than four to one.  But while his Westminster colleagues are lined up against him, the leader appears confident he still commands sufficient support among the wider membership to emerge victorious once again. Crucially, he also appears to enjoy the support of trade union chiefs.  McDonnell, Corbyn’s closest ally, told reporters as he left his home on Wednesday morning that he accepted there would be a leadership challenge, but urged Labour MPs to calm down.  He said: “It looks as though we will have a leadership election now … All we are saying to Labour MPs is play by the rules, play by the rules of our party, and if there is to be a democratic election, respect the wishes of our members.”  Related: This is not Labour MPs vs Corbyn. They’re at war with party members | Diane Abbott  In other developments on Wednesday, Margaret Beckett, one of Labour’s most senior figures, said the party risked breaking up unless Corbyn stepped down.  A tearful Beckett, a former acting leader and former foreign secretary, said that “never in my wildest dreams” had she envisaged voting for a motion of no confidence in a Labour leader until Tuesday.  Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she accused Corbyn’s leadership team of acting “like a separate unit from the Labour party”. Beckett has already described herself as a “moron” for having nominated Corbyn in the last Labour leadership contest.  “Part of what came out of the turbulence of the last day or so is a realisation there are people around Jeremy who are prepared to see the Labour party split rather than for him to go, and that is anathema to everybody who thinks that we need to get rid of this government and the damage that they are doing and the further damage that a rightwing – even more rightwing – Tory government would do,” she said.  In further pressure from the Labour hierarchy, Tessa Jowell issued a direct plea on TV to Corbyn to stand down. The former culture secretary told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that the Labour leader was putting the party’s future in jeopardy. She described the leadership crisis as a “complete shambles” and said it was a “statement of the obvious” that Corbyn had to go.  Speaking directly to the camera on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, she said: “Jeremy, you love the Labour party like I do and the Labour party has given you every opportunity that you have been able to exercise to make life for your constituents better. You and I are in the same position in relation to that but it is absolutely clear that your continued leadership is putting the Labour party’s future in jeopardy … so I ask you to follow the strongest possible view of the parliamentary party and stand down.”  More than 230,000 people have signed an online 38 Degrees petition expressing confidence in Corbyn.  Over 230,000 sign a vote of confidence in Jeremy Corbyn compared to 172 Labour MPs who oppose him.https://t.co/B8VLsrqsCI  Lisa Nandy, who stepped down as shadow energy secretary on Tuesday, said bullying, intimidation, harassment and death threats had been “unleashed against MPs from the right to the left of the party”.  Writing for the Guardian, she warned against her party being “smashed apart by a polarised, toxic, angry battle that is silencing the sensible majority”.
Former Labour leader says Corbyn’s position is untenable, while party’s deputy Tom Watson seeks talks to avoid ‘civil war’