Why Corbyn really walked out of meeting with Umunna

Corbyn has been attacked – and praised – for refusing to remain in a party leaders’ meeting on Brexit when Quitter MP Chuka Umunna turned up. Here’s what happened

Media – and social media – have been buzzing with the news that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn walked out of a meeting of party leaders to discuss Brexit options when he found former Labour MP Chuka Umunna there.

Many on social media have praised Corbyn for his decisive refusal to engage with one of the MPs whose group has done little but attack Labour – and Labour’s Brexit strategy – since it was formed. But predictably, the so-called ‘mainstream’ media have tried to present it as some kind of failure or ‘bad optics’.

But a Labour source told the SKWAWKBOX how it all unfolded:

There were two meetings. There was the one with the party leaders – and another one that the Tiggers were invited to.

But the Tiggers turned up at the main meeting and [May adviser] Gavin Barwell thought it would be rude to send them away even though they’d crashed it! Confusion reigned.

The Tiggers aren’t even a party, let alone significant enough to have been there, so Jeremy left. Apparently he didn’t miss anything, it was as vacuous as you’d expect.

LibDem leader Vince Cable, who stayed at the meeting, couldn’t help but agree how pointless it had been:

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All that hurrah about Corbyn walking out and this is what Tory austerity loving Cable said about the meeting. Sham, virtue signalling by May. JC on right side of history again.pic.twitter.com/PrzTKSMzKE

— The Awakend #EL4C (@the_awakend) March 20, 2019

SKWAWKBOX comment:

Entitled Blairite gatecrashers and Tories too weak and feeble to send them packing. What a riveting event that must have been after the PM-in-waiting left them to it.

Corbyn did the right thing in leaving to let them waste their own time.

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