As anyone who follows the news even tangentially will be well aware, the latest ‘weapon of mass desperation‘ used to attack Labour’s hugely-popular leader is a country. To feeble and flailing right-wing media and MPs, the complex troubles of a whole nation have been reduced to little more than a hammer to try to land a blow on Jeremy Corbyn.
Now MPs have set up a special ‘All Party Parliamentary Group‘ (APPG) on Venezuela.
APPG’s are informal groups that have no official parliamentary status – but they do confer the opportunity to receive benefits such as overseas trips, gifts and hospitality. They can, however, serve a useful purpose as a focal point for discussion and debate of complex issues – as long as they’re populated by people with a good grasp of, or at least an interest in, the issues they’re set up to address.
But the new Venezuela APPG does little more than expose the motivations and lack of character of MPs who have joined it. Labour MPs Graham Jones, Angela Smith and John Spellar joined the group – but their former deputy leader spotted something interesting and called them out on it on Twitter:
That’s right – alas Smith, Jones and Spellar between them have never made a single contribution in the House of Commons about Venezuela.
Not one.
The trio have shown no interest in the nation before. Ever. Yet suddenly, they are eager to form part of an APPG that supposedly exists to discuss nothing else.
In John Prescott’s eyes, there’s only one viable reason – they hate Jeremy Corbyn and want another opportunity to attack him.
Sure enough, they wasted no time setting about proving him right:
Many might think that you don’t need to join an APPG to spout the same nonsense the right-wing media and Tory politicians are desperately pushing, but if you want a veneer of relevance – and it’s hard to argue they don’t need it – then being a member of one might help if people don’t know how informal and status-free the groups are.
Well done to John Prescott for calling a spade a cynical spade; nothing but contempt and derision for MPs still trying to attack a hugely popular and effective leader that even his enemies now recognise is likely to be this country’s next – and desperately needed – Prime Minister.
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