If you’re confused about last week’s botched coup attempt against Jeremy Corbyn, just remember what Tony Blair said about fighting a general election.
“I wouldn’t want to win on an old-fashioned leftist platform,” he told Labour-right faction Progress during last summer’s leadership race. “Even if I thought it was the route to victory, I wouldn’t take it.”
Since then, three distinct currents have developed in the party – Corbynistas, Blairites and “centrists.”
Corbyn has strong grassroots support but not among MPs, as last Monday’s Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) meeting made clear.
Labour MPs took turns trying to crush Corbyn’s spirit while 10,000 supporters rallied outside Westminster with just a day’s notice.
Similar shows of strength have sprung up across the country and scores of local Labour branches have pledged their solidarity.
While 172 MPs expressed no confidence in their leader on Tuesday, a solid 40 voted against this showboating motion and four spoiled their ballot.
And only a couple of dozen of those 172 rebels are Blairites.
Much has been made of a supposed slip in rank-and-file support for Corbyn, but the opinion poll this claim is based on paints a more complex picture.
YouGov’s survey shows some soft support turning hostile but his core following is holding firm, even expanding under an influx of 60,000 new members last week.
Another new poll shows over half of Labour’s voters, 54 per cent, think Corbyn should not step down, compared to 35 per cent who say he should resign.
Tellingly, Tory voters are over three to one for Corbyn quitting — and when our David Cameron joins the chorus, you really have to wonder who’s setting the agenda.
The answer is likely Blair. He knows Corbyn could win a snap general election, although Michael Gove’s stunning double-cross of Boris Johnson makes an early poll less likely.
More pressingly, Wednesday is set to see the Chilcot Report savage Blair over Iraq — and the last thing this former “peace envoy” wants is for his party to join calls for him to be indicted for war crimes.
That’s one reason why the plotters are demanding Corbyn’s head on a spike now rather than later — if deputy Tom Watson takes over it means less blushes for Blairites.
The other factor is that everyone knows Corbyn would cruise to victory in any leadership contest.
Blair just wants to destroy the left, but centrists only rebelled on the understanding that it wouldn’t involve a poisonous and pointless civil war.
If Corbyn resigned and stood again he would need an unachievable 50 nominations to make the ballot, but under a constitutional challenge he’s automatically a candidate, according to legal firm Doughty Street Chambers.
The slew of resignations at the start of last week, which the New Statesman revealed were “co-ordinated” by a “close ally of the deputy leader” — was meant to maximise Corbyn’s humiliation but instead fuelled widespread outrage.
Corbyn stood firm, most affiliated trade unions backed him and with Momentum mobilising members on social media, the centrist stooges began to get cold feet.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell took to the airwaves, insisting that Corbyn wouldn’t betray the movement by resigning — so it was time to wheel out a challenger, or at least pretend.
With the Watson caretaker plan off the table, next in line was “unity candidate” Angela Eagle.
There was just one problem — she didn’t seem that enthused.
The backlash began when her Wallasey constituency party announced it “was overwhelmingly behind Jeremy” and called on her to “make a clear public statement of support for him.”
And Eagle’s tearful TV protestations about her “agonising decision” to resign looked even more cynical after blogger Phil Maylor reported that angela4leader.org was one of three domain names snapped up by a Blair-era special advisor a day before the coup began.
She’s still “considering.”
Attention later drifted to Owen Smith, who had just stepped down as shadow work and pensions secretary. Smith was seen to have one advantage over Eagle – he hadn’t voted for the Iraq war or Syrian airstrikes, making him possibly more palatable to Corbynistas.
But he wasn’t keen to become the public face of treachery either. And people soon remembered that less than a year ago he had abstained on the Tory Welfare Bill.
“I was elected as a Labour representative, not as an independent delegate, and the leader of Labour sets our position,” he explained at the time.
“The only people who would have benefitted from such a massive split in the Labour Party are the Tories, Nationalists, Lib Dems and Ukip.”
He might be right, but then why would he now take a leading role in splitting his party over Corbyn?
Watson waved a white flag on Friday, reportedly “urging colleagues to step back from the brink,” warning that a leadership election with Corbyn in it could “cause untold damage to the party.”
Who knows what damage this debacle has already caused, but it looks like the centrists were bluffing after all, even if the Blairites weren’t.
Both blocs have exposed their biggest weaknesses and there’s bound to be bad blood for some time.
In contrast, Corbyn has shown extraordinary courage and resilience in the face of unfriendly fire, betrayed by comrades of decades’ standing.
He emerges with kudos, new strength and a clear moral mandate. He’s won respect across the country for not panicking under pressure.
“I wouldn’t want to win on an old-fashioned leftist platform,” he told Labour-right faction Progress during last summer’s leadership race. “Even if I thought it was the route to victory, I wouldn’t take it.”
Since then, three distinct currents have developed in the party – Corbynistas, Blairites and “centrists.”
Corbyn has strong grassroots support but not among MPs, as last Monday’s Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) meeting made clear.
Labour MPs took turns trying to crush Corbyn’s spirit while 10,000 supporters rallied outside Westminster with just a day’s notice.
Similar shows of strength have sprung up across the country and scores of local Labour branches have pledged their solidarity.
While 172 MPs expressed no confidence in their leader on Tuesday, a solid 40 voted against this showboating motion and four spoiled their ballot.
And only a couple of dozen of those 172 rebels are Blairites.
Much has been made of a supposed slip in rank-and-file support for Corbyn, but the opinion poll this claim is based on paints a more complex picture.
YouGov’s survey shows some soft support turning hostile but his core following is holding firm, even expanding under an influx of 60,000 new members last week.
Another new poll shows over half of Labour’s voters, 54 per cent, think Corbyn should not step down, compared to 35 per cent who say he should resign.
Tellingly, Tory voters are over three to one for Corbyn quitting — and when our David Cameron joins the chorus, you really have to wonder who’s setting the agenda.
The answer is likely Blair. He knows Corbyn could win a snap general election, although Michael Gove’s stunning double-cross of Boris Johnson makes an early poll less likely.
More pressingly, Wednesday is set to see the Chilcot Report savage Blair over Iraq — and the last thing this former “peace envoy” wants is for his party to join calls for him to be indicted for war crimes.
That’s one reason why the plotters are demanding Corbyn’s head on a spike now rather than later — if deputy Tom Watson takes over it means less blushes for Blairites.
The other factor is that everyone knows Corbyn would cruise to victory in any leadership contest.
Blair just wants to destroy the left, but centrists only rebelled on the understanding that it wouldn’t involve a poisonous and pointless civil war.
If Corbyn resigned and stood again he would need an unachievable 50 nominations to make the ballot, but under a constitutional challenge he’s automatically a candidate, according to legal firm Doughty Street Chambers.
The slew of resignations at the start of last week, which the New Statesman revealed were “co-ordinated” by a “close ally of the deputy leader” — was meant to maximise Corbyn’s humiliation but instead fuelled widespread outrage.
Corbyn stood firm, most affiliated trade unions backed him and with Momentum mobilising members on social media, the centrist stooges began to get cold feet.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell took to the airwaves, insisting that Corbyn wouldn’t betray the movement by resigning — so it was time to wheel out a challenger, or at least pretend.
With the Watson caretaker plan off the table, next in line was “unity candidate” Angela Eagle.
There was just one problem — she didn’t seem that enthused.
The backlash began when her Wallasey constituency party announced it “was overwhelmingly behind Jeremy” and called on her to “make a clear public statement of support for him.”
And Eagle’s tearful TV protestations about her “agonising decision” to resign looked even more cynical after blogger Phil Maylor reported that angela4leader.org was one of three domain names snapped up by a Blair-era special advisor a day before the coup began.
She’s still “considering.”
Attention later drifted to Owen Smith, who had just stepped down as shadow work and pensions secretary. Smith was seen to have one advantage over Eagle – he hadn’t voted for the Iraq war or Syrian airstrikes, making him possibly more palatable to Corbynistas.
But he wasn’t keen to become the public face of treachery either. And people soon remembered that less than a year ago he had abstained on the Tory Welfare Bill.
“I was elected as a Labour representative, not as an independent delegate, and the leader of Labour sets our position,” he explained at the time.
“The only people who would have benefitted from such a massive split in the Labour Party are the Tories, Nationalists, Lib Dems and Ukip.”
He might be right, but then why would he now take a leading role in splitting his party over Corbyn?
Watson waved a white flag on Friday, reportedly “urging colleagues to step back from the brink,” warning that a leadership election with Corbyn in it could “cause untold damage to the party.”
Who knows what damage this debacle has already caused, but it looks like the centrists were bluffing after all, even if the Blairites weren’t.
Both blocs have exposed their biggest weaknesses and there’s bound to be bad blood for some time.
In contrast, Corbyn has shown extraordinary courage and resilience in the face of unfriendly fire, betrayed by comrades of decades’ standing.
He emerges with kudos, new strength and a clear moral mandate. He’s won respect across the country for not panicking under pressure.
No comments:
Post a Comment