British Labour MPs are creating a timetable to let Jeremy Corbyn "retire with dignity" despite a recent surge in membership to support the embattled party leader. The proposal would see the next party leader keep some of Corbyn's key policies if he agreed to step down in favour of an MP who has the support of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP). However, James Schneider of Labour movement Momentum said the plan was not viable as Corbyn had an "enormous amount of support".

Shadow cabinet members attempted to meet with Corbyn on Thursday, 30 June, to persuade him to step down, but could not speak to him, according to the BBC. Since the party's leadership crisis began after the UK voted to leave the EU on 23 June, the Labour leader has been adamant that he would not "betray" party members who voted for him by stepping down.

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Schneider, a spokesperson for Momentum, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "If they [Labour MPs] are unhappy with Jeremy Corbyn's leadership or the policies which he is standing for, they need to get 51 signatures, they need to find a candidate, they need to find a platform and they need to go for it. B"But they don't have a candidate who can beat Jeremy Corbyn."

He also accused MPs who are calling for Corbyn's resignation as trying to "subvert democracy in the party".

Corbyn's allies are fighting to keep him at the helm of the party. Ken Livingstone, ex-London mayor said that Corbyn would win a leadership contest and that the public would be "appalled" at MPs attempting to oust a leader voted in by 60% of the party's members and supporters.

Rallies are taking place at the weekend to protest at the "deeply undemocratic" attempts to topple the Corbyn. Events have been planned in Manchester, Liverpool, Exeter, Plymouth and Penzance.

According to Momentum: "A quarter of a million of us voted for Jeremy Corbyn and his ideas just nine months ago, giving him the largest mandate of any party leader in Britain ever. Since then we have worked hard, winning for Labour, and taking a new kind of politics out into our communities.

"So it's been shocking to see that effort squandered by some MPs unable to accept Labour's decision, launching a determined and deeply undemocratic attempt to topple the leadership, in the middle of a national crisis."

On the 28 June, 172 Labour MPs voted in favour of a no-confidence vote in Jeremy Corbyn. Forty MPs voted against the motion. Thirteen Labour MPs abstained from voting and there were four spoilt ballots.

YouGov poll released a poll of Labour supporters on 30 June which claimed Corbyn's approval rating was at 51%, down from 72% from the previous month.

Jeremy Corbyn