Jeremy Corbyn sacking Labour MPs who voted against Conservatives to protect Britain’s place in Single Market
Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour has been showings its true colours on Brexit: less than 1 in 5 Labour MPs voted against the Conservatives to protect Britain’s position in the Single Market when it came to a proposed amendment to the Queen’s Speech.
All 12 of the Liberal Democrat MPs, however, voted against the Conservatives and in favour of the Single Market:
This continues Labour’s inglorious record of lining up with the same European policies as Theresa May.
What’s more, Jeremy Corbyn is sacking Labour MPs who voted against the Conservatives:
Hearing that Labour frontbenchers who voted for the Umunna amendment are being SACKED by Jeremy Corbyn. Andy Slaughter among them.
— Kevin Schofield (@PolhomeEditor) June 29, 2017
Four Labour frontbenchers sacked/quit for backing @ChukaUmunna Brexit amendment: Zeichner, West, Cadbury, Slaughter.
— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) June 29, 2017
Corbyn fires up to six Shadow Ministers for supporting the pro Single Market/Customs Union amendment. Labour solidly a Brexit Party now.
— Labour Leave (@labourleave) June 29, 2017
Of course, one of the problems the Liberal Democrats had in the general election was in persuading voters that Jeremy Corbyn was not the anti-Brexit, pro-Single Market choice. This vote is a powerful reminder of how he isn’t a pro-European. But only if people know about it…
It is time that the LIB DEMS shouted loud and clear on ALL media sights that the voters have been conned by Corbyn and that if he was in power we would become poorer. Back to the 1970’s with a vengeance.People under 45 should be informed of that era.
The term to use is BETRAYAL. Nothing more, nothing less.
It is so true. I have been saying the same on Twitter and anywhere else people may read.
It’s clever. He’said not going to be upfront about his anti Europe stance. At least in the 70s we knew where the Left stood on Europe. But he won’t say. And he never will
I worry about the way the party positions itself especially at the moment.
Even the dogs photographed at polling stations knew we were pro Remain.
We presented an electoral strategy that sought to tap into the Richmond Park effect – that we would be the recipient of disaffected Labour Remainers as well as Tory ones. For the first time really since the Iraq War the Lib Dems went for a tribal appeal. I don’t know whether this decision/plan was made on the back of a fag packet or whether we had done significant focus group/marketing but as is often the case we chose a tactical policy approach to try to capitalise on a weakness of our opponents but we fail to present a strategic policy that will grow our support on a wider front.
So what happened
1. The Tories ran an appalling campaign and didn’t want to talk about Brexit despite saying they would. Their leader was wooden, weak and wobbly.
2. Labour made a facing both ways positioning statement about Brexit to stem any losses in the North by affirming we will be leaving the EU. They then put enough flannel around a “Labour Brexit” to suggest to Labour Remainers in the South that it supports a more in than out SM/CU position. They then stopped talking about it and switched to a jam today/jam tomorrow austerity busting manifesto and talked up all the good stuff they were offering. Their leader was approachable, seen as a man of the people and amazingly a better prime ministerial option than Maybot.
3. The Lib Dems tribal Remain position which drew to it more ardent Remainers over the last year failed to fire for a number of reasons
a) we are still toxic and offering a referendum smacked of our perceived undemocratic untrustworthiness seen by many over the Tuition Fees fiasco.
b) our leader was not well known, rather spikey and defensive especially over his religious positioning. The interview with Andrew Neil although too late to make a real difference was seen by many as an example of his spikiness.
c) The country split even more on tribal lines. The largest by far Remain tribe made common cause with the anti austerity, anti Tory tribe. Almost all them were previously Labour voters or new kids on the block who were drawn to support a party unashamedly offering hope not more of the same misery. The Lib Dems in most seats were flattered under that juggernauts wheels.
My view is that as a result we are further away from a revival than ever. We are now prisoners of the ultra Remainers. We have ceded the anti establishment positive change position to Labour. We have alienated LD voters who either are also leavers or think that the British way is to accept the result and get on with it.
The most sensible, liberal and pluralist approach now is actually to accept the result and shape Brexit rather than fight to over turn it. It doesn’t mean we accept that our long term place should be outside the EU but saying we want to stop the result of the referendum is the wrong side if the argument. Fight to keep us in the SM/CU or something as close as possible to it to me is the only way our country can heal the tribal lines that are now dangerously pulling our country apart. The electorate will reward for constructive engagement not for undemocratic tribalism that since God was a boy we fought to overcome.