The current leader of Labour, Jeremy Corbyn, has ruled out his party entering into a coalition with the SNP.

He made his view clear ahead of taking part in a leadership hustings in Glasgow with rival Owen Smith.

Mr Corbyn’s Shadow Scottish Secretary Dave Anderson had urged Labour to consider an SNP coalition.

Thursday evening’s hustings is the latest in a series being held between Mr Corbyn and Mr Owen who are the two contenders for leading the UK party.

Scottish Labour Party leader Kezia Dugdale, who is supporting Mr Owen’s candidacy, will not be attending the event.

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Labour Party members have begun voting in the contest, the outcome of which will be known on 24 September.

Mr Smith is attempting to unseat Mr Corbyn less than a year after he was overwhelmingly elected as leader.

The election was triggered after dozens of Mr Corbyn’s frontbench team – including then-Work and Pensions spokesman Mr Smith – quit in the wake of Hilary Benn’s sacking on 26 June.

Mr Corbyn’s opponents have argued that he cannot win a general election, pointing to what they view as his lacklustre performance ahead of the EU referendum.

‘Some lunatic’

On Wednesday, Mr Smith apologised to Mr Corbyn for any offence caused after he told supporters: “What you won’t get from me is some lunatic at the top of the Labour Party.”

The Welsh MP insisted he had been referring to himself, and not his leadership rival.

But despite having little support among Labour MPs, Mr Corbyn’s backers believe he remains popular among grassroots party members.

He won the leadership last year after securing 59.5% of the votes.

The Glasgow debate, which will be held before an audience of Labour members at the SECC from 19:00 BST, will be streamed live on the Labour Party website.

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale confirmed on Monday that she would be backing Mr Smith in the leadership race, arguing that he could reunite the party and win a general election.

But her deputy, Alex Rowley, has previously criticised Labour MPs for attempting to “launch a coup” against Mr Corbyn.

Mr Corbyn’s team believes he continues to enjoy the support of the majority of Scottish Labour members and constituency branches.

The two largest unions affiliated to Labour – Unite and Unison – have also given their backing to Mr Corbyn.

But Mr Smith has picked up support from two other major unions, the GMB and Usdaw.

Labour leadership election timetable

• 19-20 July: The number of MP nominations for each candidate was published
• 20 July: Deadline for people to sign up as a registered supporter closed
• 22 August: Ballot papers start to be sent out in the post and by email
• 21 September: Deadline for ballot papers to be returned is midday
• 24 September: The result will be announced at a special conference in Liverpool