UNDER-FIRE Jeremy Corbyn has insisted Labour and its policies are "needed more than ever" but told his party they must "remain united" if they are to win.
The Labour leader has been under mounting pressure in the wake of the party's humiliating by-election defeat in Copeland on Thursday.
He said he took his "share" of responsibility for that defeat and conceded that Labour had not yet done enough to rebuild trust with disillusioned voters.
But in a rallying cry to his party, he said: "Now is not the time to retreat, to run away or give up."
Speaking at the Scottish Labour Party conference in Perth, he stated: "Comrades, let us never forget it's not called the struggle for nothing."
With the UK's "rigged economy" leaving millions of people in poverty and reliant on foodbanks, he insisted: "It is a radical Labour programme that is needed more now than ever
"Labour is needed now more than ever.
"The policies and ideas we are setting out are policies whose time has come
"But to win that fight we need to remain united.
"United in our belief in our movement. United in our commitment to once again make our society fairer, better and more just.
"And united so we can provide our people with the hope they desperately deed."
Mr Corbyn spoke out after his deputy leader Tom Watson publicly challenged union boss Len McCluskey and others to back the under pressure Labour leader.
Mr Watson said those who backed Mr Corbyn in last year's leadership elections should support him in good times and bad.
His comments came as shadow attorney general Shami Chakrabarti blamed factors such as the media and division in the party for two poor performances in by-elections this week.
However, Labour MP Lisa Nandy, touted as a possible party leader, said it was "a severely inadequate response" to lay the blame beyond the party for its current problems.
Speaking on ITV's Peston on Sunday, Mr Watson said: "If I've got some frustrations, it's that those people that are Jeremy's cheerleaders, that made sure that he was elected a second time last September, they should be sticking with their leader in the bad times, not just the good.
"Dave Prentis has spoken out, but I'd say to you this morning where's Len McCluskey defending his leader in this difficult time?
"It shouldn't be just down to me."
Mr Watson said it was not "a suicide approach" to stick with Mr Corbyn, as he urged the party to unite and ruled out a fresh leadership contest.
He added: "We can win an election with Jeremy Corbyn, but things have to change."
Gerard Coyne, who is challenging Len McCluskey for leadership of the Unite union, also criticised Mr McCluskey's failure to speak out.
"Len McCluskey has spent his time as general secretary of Unite pulling the strings of the Labour leadership," said Mr Coyne.
"But as the party's facing its biggest crisis in over a generation, with the Labour leadership completely disconnected from its traditional support, Len is suddenly nowhere to be seen or heard.
"The silence of Len McCluskey is truly damning. He has driven Labour to the edge of the cliff and then disappeared in a puff of smoke as it tumbles over the edge.
"I find it utterly unbelievable that when he has been previously so obsessed with the Westminster bubble that he has conveniently lost his voice."
But a Unite spokesman said: "Tom Watson is deputy leader of the Labour party. It is his job to address the issues facing the party in the wake of the by-elections.
"Len McCluskey's job is to address the issues that are the foremost priorities for Unite's members.
"He has been working flat out to defend Unite members' pensions in the nuclear sector and at BMW and to save Vauxhall jobs and plants."
Mr Corbyn said today he was "under no illusions about the scale of the task" when he became Labour leader in 2015.
He hit out at both the Tories and the SNP, claiming neither party offered voters the type of full-scale economic reform that Labour supports
"The Tories claim they want to take back powers from Brussels and the SNP want to take back power from Westminster," Mr Corbyn said.
"But neither of them wants to take economic power back from multinationals and big business, neither of them wants to change and transform our economy in a way that ensures no-one and no community is left behind."
He added: "Our vision of the economy isn't one that's content with just delivering sustainable economic growth, though that is essential.
"We want to ensure the rewards of that growth are spread for more fairly and equally throughout society."
Mr Corbyn insisted: "We can and will fix this rigged economy and make Britain a fairer, more just and equal place."
