Earlier this week, some thirty-odd centrist MPs and a handful of peers and MEPs signed a letter to Jeremy Corbyn to demand that he initiate a vote of no-confidence and claiming that if it failed, then Labour’s conference policy required Labour to immediately begin campaigning for a new EU referendum – the arrogantly-titled “people’s vote”.
Labour Party chair Ian Lavery put out a series of three tweets showing why the move would be counterproductive.
But the letter was also inaccurate. Labour’s policy does not commit the party to campaigning for a new referendum – instead it simply states that the party will keep all options open while working to defeat Theresa May’s dire Brexit deal and to force a new general election.
Now two Liverpool CLPs (constituency Labour parties) have condemned their MPs’ decision to sign the letter.
The elected officers of Wavertree Labour party sent an open letter on behalf of their members to their MP Luciana Berger this morning. The letter condemning the MPs’ letter as ‘premature’, corrected its inaccuracy regarding Labour policy and criticised the focus on Brexit instead of the ‘most vital issue’ of removing the burden of Tory government from the millions suffering under it, in or out of the EU.
It also stated full support for “the leadership’s tactics and timing”:
The ‘exec’ of Garston and Halewood CLP, whose MP Maria Eagle appeared among the letter’s signatories, put out a similar statement on its Twitter account.
Other CLPs around the country are expected to follow suit.
SKWAWKBOX comment:
The patience and foresight of Labour’s leadership in biding time over the tabling of a no-confidence motion has been fully vindicated by news of the challenge to Theresa May’s leadership of the Tory party. Members should be glad Corbyn and his team refused to be ‘bounced’ into a premature move.
Whatever the outcome of that challenge, Labour must continue its strategy of working for both leavers and remainers – and reject the arrogance and the abandonment of leave voters that is implicit in the call to rush toward a so-called “people’s vote”.
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Note: SKWAWKBOX editor Steve Walker is chair of Garston and Halewood CLP. The Garston & Halewood statement was a decision of the full officer team of the CLP, passed with no votes against. He had no involvement in the decision of Wavertree’s executive to issue its letter.
“strategy of working for both leavers and remainers”
The fence-up-the-arse non-policy. A very limited sell-by date at this juncture, even allowing for the current bout of Tory hari-kiri.
(And no – I have no time for Berger or Eagle. But I do know bollocks when I see it)
……..but not when you write it!
Second referendum = Blairite plot to discard Jeremy. Accusing him of being anti-Jewish was wearing a bit thin, so this is the fallback.
As the majority of Labour voters support a ‘People’s Vote’ could you detail how you arrived at this rather counter-intuitive conclusion.
Where is your evidence for your statement that a “majority of labour supporters support a PeoplesVote” ?
If you are going to use direct quotes then please be accurate.
I am basing my statement on the evidence of national polls carried out in November
You can look up the polls yourself on Google, whilst you are at it you may wish to ask yourself why you haven’t come across any polls than support your point of view.
If you can’t find the polls then let me know and I’ll post the info this evening when I get home.
The majority of of Labour constituencies, particularly in the north of England, voted Leave, The vast majority of Labour MPs voted for Article 50
Steve Richards – I knew that already, thanks.
But that doesn’t alter the fact that the majority of Labour voters support a second vote or that the majority of Labour voters supported Remain in 2016. Surely you are not trying to infer that your our two sets of info can’t both be true because that would be silly wouldn’t it.
However if you have any credible evidence that supports the rubbish that Danny has posted above then please post the links. I’m sure that Danny would appreciate your help because it is self evident that Danny doesn’t have any himself.
I’m awfully sorry SteveH but to claima majority of Labour Voter’s support a ‘People’s Vote’ is somewhat wide of the mark I’m afraid. Whilst I may only swim in the waters of those who have pushed for a Corbyn-led Labour Government, many of my peers, unlike myself, all voted Remain in 2016, and guess what, not one of them supports a People’s Vote, they do support ejecting the Tories ASAP and are 100% against Ms May’s non-Brexit Deal – maybe you are in the South East, but if in Wales or outside of the M25 I’m afraid your comment is far from the truth.
Christopher Rodgers – Is there any reason why we can’t have both. I would prefer to have a GE followed by a PV. If we fail to force a GE then we should fall back on the PV option.
Whilst your anecdotal evidence may be quite true amongst your associates my experience in a northern mill town over 200 miles from London is the opposite of yours. However rather than relying on personal anecdotal evidence from my own bubble I have based my statement on the evidence of national polls.
Increasingly whilst canvassing on the doorstep I am coming across people who are worried about who will protect them from a malevolent Tory government when we’ve left the EU. Once we are outside the protection of EU then there will be absolutely nothing to stop the Tories from decimating our employment rights they are already preaching that rights are really privileges. You should also bare in mind that if we leave the EU then it is odds on that Scotland will go independent and that along with the boundary changes will practically guarantee a Tory majority for the foreseeable future.
Power lies in embracing democracy not in running away from it.
2nd ref is undemocratic just like the EU, so it’s no surprise to me that those who wish to drag us back into the EU see no problem demanding a 2nd Ref.
The vast majority of Labour Voters do not want a 2nd ref, huge parts of our strongholds voted leave and the party would be condemning us to years in the wilderness (Like the Lib Dem’s are) if we backed one.
You are making the classic mistake of confusing how a constituency voted, including its Tory & UKIP supporters, with how the majority of Labour voters voted in that constituency . The polls directly contradict what you say. (ie – what you have said is untrue)
However if you have any actual evidence, rather than anecdotes about what your mate said, then please feel free to post it. I look forward to you presenting your evidence.
I’m confused why arch Brexiteers always profess that their is overwhelming support for Brexit but for some reason they are all terrified of a second poll to confirm this is what the electorate want. Apart from the fact you that think you’d loose what other reasons do you have for apposing a vote on the actual deal. Please spare me all the Brexit means Brexit and the Will of the People stuff because we both know that’s just empty rhetoric.
If you already know facts, why not consider them in drawing conclusions? Strange that you speak of having the protection of the EU when there is a distinct possibility of a Labour Socialist Gov’t being elected soon; perhaps it is the memory of a Blair/Brown Labour Gov’t that had 13 years to rectify Thatcherite legislation on Trade Union & Workers’ Rights, but did nothing? Now Blair & Brown campaign to ‘Remain’ in the globalist rich man’s club.
steve richards 16/12/2018 at 8:59 am
“Now Blair & Brown campaign to ‘Remain’ in the globalist rich man’s club.”
So you thought think that ignoring the majority of Labour voters who voted Remain and putting your faith in the ERG and the likes of JRM and Liam Fox will enhance your ‘socialist’ cause.
You are also wilfully ignoring that if we leave the EU it is odds on that Scotland will become independent and, once that happens, that along with the boundary changes would almost guarantee a Tory government for the foreseeable future.
Some of us have cottoned on to the fact that the world has changed since the 70s, it’s time you caught up too.
Yes shouldn’t cave in to a call for another peoples vote from middle class liberals and Blairite Labour – some socialists perhaps ask the wrong question, it should be how can we build a left wing democratic socialist society?
Were perhaps 2 options, via partners EC or as independent left wing democratic socialist states cooperating – I voted Remain to try with partners as a last chance collectively to break EC Neo-Liberalism but accept the result and it was not the wrong people so in my view it has to be option 2.
With democratic control of labour and capital supply (as Pre-Neo-Liberal EC) as an example to every country it could be the end of Neo-Liberalism.
I argued the first great victory of Neo-Liberalism was to stop the Left from dreaming and now for some it seems to be winning again by stopping some of the Left from imagining international cooperation outside of a Neo-Liberal structure?
Left wing democratic socialists should tell people not what they want to hear but perhaps what they need to hear!