Theresa May resignation: Jeremy Corbyn blasts PM and calls for 'immediate general election'

Jeremy Corbyn gave a damning indictment of Theresa May's premiership as he called for an "immediate general election" following her resignation.

The Labour leader said it was "right" for her to have left the post, adding: "Whoever becomes the new Conservative leader must let the people decide our country's future, through an immediate general election."

In a statement released after Mrs May announced her resignation, he said: "She has now accepted what the country has known for months: she cannot govern, and nor can her divided and disintegrating party.

"The burning injustices she promised to tackle three years ago are even starker today.

"The Conservative Party has utterly failed the country over Brexit and is unable to improve people's lives or deal with their most pressing needs.

"Parliament is deadlocked and the Conservatives offer no solutions to the other major challenges facing our country."

He later said he could understand the "stress" Theresa May is going through, though said he did not recognise her description of the country.

Mr Corbyn told Sky News: "At a human level, I listened to her statement this morning and one can understand the stress that she's going through, as any human being would be going through in this situation.

"But her description of the country is something that I don't recognise: when the UN produces a report that there are 14 million people in Britain living in poverty, when (there are) 130,000 children living in insecure accommodation, then I think we've got to recognise there is a need for a change of direction in this country, and she's not offered it and I'd be very surprised if any of her successors offered it."

Commenting on the leadership race to replace her, he added: "The last thing the country needs is weeks of more Conservative infighting followed by yet another unelected Prime Minister."

Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson said Mrs May had an "unenviably difficult job" and deemed that "she did it badly".

In a statement he said: "She tried to do what was right for our country. But she failed because by the time she realised the need for compromise it was too late.

"History will record she was honourable in her intentions. To those who have plotted in her downfall to further their own ambitions, the ideological fanatics who won't stop until they have cut off all our ties with Europe, history will not be so kind."

Following the announcement, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable also said she "was right to recognise that her administration has reached the end of the road".

He said: "Sadly her compromises through the last three years have too often been with the right-wing of her own party, rather than about bringing the country together.

"Conservative Party interest has always trumped national interest, and yet Conservative MPs continue to demand an ever more extreme Brexit policy. The best and only option remains to take Brexit back to the people. I believe the public would now choose to stop Brexit."

Mrs May announced during a speech outside Downing Street that she would resign as leader of her party on June 7, while staying on as PM until she is replaced.

Speaking in Downing Street, with husband Philip and her closest aides watching on, Mrs May said it was in the "best interests of the country" for a new PM to be selected.

Her voice cracked as she said: "I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold - the second female Prime Minister but certainly not the last.

"I do so with no ill-will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love."