Jeremy Corbyn’s sons pay tribute to their ‘honest’ and ‘humble’ father

Jeremy Corbyn’s sons have expressed their pride in their father despite him leading the Labour Party to its worst General Election defeat in more than 80 years.

In a message posted on Twitter by Tommy Corbyn with his brothers, Seb and Benjamin, they said defeat “hurt” and they praised his record of a lifetime of campaigning for the “less fortunate”.

They said he had paid the price for being “honest, humble and good-natured” in the “poisonous world” of politics, with years of “the most despicable attacks filled with hatred”.

As Labour leader, they said that he had produced “the most wonderful manifesto this country has ever seen”.

“He took on an entire establishment. This meant the attacks from all sides intensified and became even more poisonous while he was leader. We’ve never known a politician to be smeared and vilified so much,” they said.

“His unbelievably broad shoulders and incredibly thick skin endured all of this so that we could all live in the hope of a world free of racism or hunger. The man led with a strength difficult to quantify.”

Despite the rejection of his vision by voters, they insisted that its time would come.

“To assume that the ideologies he stands for are now outdated is so wrong. In the coming years we will see that they are more important than ever,” the said.

They added: “From the three proudest sons on the planet, please continue the fight.”

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Labour under Jeremy Corbyn suffered a dismal night at the polls on Thursday, losing 59 seats and seeing just over 200 MPs elected - the worst showing in decades.

But Mr Corbyn - who said he would not lead the party into another election - said Brexit had "taken over" the debate, drowning out his radical but progressive manifesto.