Jeremy Corbyn says shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth has his full support after he appeared to criticise the Labour leader in a secretly recorded phone call.
In the recording – leaked to the Conservative-supporting website Guido Fawkes – Mr Ashworth is heard saying he did not believe Labour would win the election.
Mr Ashworth has insisted the conversation with a Tory-activist friend over a week ago was “banter”.
Mr Corbyn told the BBC it was “not the sort of thing I would do” but called the story “irrelevant”.