Tom Watson: Jeremy Corbyn's refusal to quit 'putting Labour Party in peril'
Jeremy Corbyn's refusal to resign as Labour leader is putting the party in "peril", his deputy Tom Watson has said.
"I went to see Jeremy...but he was unwilling to move from the position he is in so we are still in an impasse," he said.
He also apologised to the public for the "mess" his party was in and said a leadership contest was imminent.
But Watson said he would not be standing - leaving Angela Eagle as the likely contender.
ITV News understands Eagle, the former shadow business secretary, will announce her leadership bid tomorrow afternoon unless Corbyn has resigned by then.
Watson said he agreed with Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale who said if she had lost the confidence of her colleagues by such an overwhelming majority that she would quit.
"Unfortunately that is true for Jeremy. It is a great tragedy. He does have a members' mandate but those members who join a political party also know you need a parliamentary mandate if you are to form a government."
He added: "My party is in peril. We are facing am existential crisis and I just don't want us to be in this position because I think there are millions of people in the country who need a left leaning government, who can give people opportunity and right now we're not doing that."
Earlier, ITV News' Chris Ship reported that Corbyn was close to quitting but his aides had urged him to stand firm and fight any leadership challenge.
David Cameron also remarkably waded into the row, calling on Corbyn to resign for the sake of the country.
Watson blamed hard left shadow chancellor John McDonnell for not allowing Mr Corbyn to step down.
Mr McDonnell said Mr Watson's claim was "ludicrous" and that he was confident Mr Corbyn could see off any challenge to his leadership.
"He is not going anywhere," Mr McDonnell told Sky News. "If there is a contest he will be standing again. I think Jeremy could win it again".