Corbyn cornered over Syria strikes
MPs say he must quit for opposing raids Now he’ll be forced to offer free vote
JEREMY Corbyn faced calls to resign as Labour leader yesterday, as the party’s crisis over Syria intensified.
On a tumultuous day of open revolt, Mr Corbyn’s deputy Tom Watson and Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn publicly distanced themselves from his refusal to countenance air strikes against Islamic State terrorists in Syria.
Four senior Labour MPs broke cover to call for Mr Corbyn to resign – less than three months after he was elected with a massive mandate from Labour members.
And Labour figures have reportedly sought legal advice on how to oust Mr Corbyn as leader – and stop him standing again.
The party’s moderates – desperate to depose Mr Corbyn as soon as there is a credible alternative – are seeking advice from GRM Law, a practice Labour often uses for property and constitutional work, the Times reported.
Mr Corbyn’s ally and former lover Diane Abbott suggested he could be forced to quit as early as next May if his brand of hard-Left politics proves a flop with voters.
Last night there were signs that Mr Corbyn was poised to back down and offer Labour MPs a free vote on Syria.
Sources indicated he has accepted he will face a mass walkout by members of his Shadow Cabinet on Monday if he tries to force them to oppose air strikes. A source said he had pulled out of a Stop the War Coalition march this weekend to avoid further provoking his MPs.
The Shadow Cabinet’s warring factions will try to paper over their differences with a joint statement condemning IS but leaving open the question of how MPs should vote.
Last night there was speculation in Westminster that the vote could be held on Thursday. There were claims MPs had been told to remain in London towards the end of next week.
Government sources said wavering Labour MPs would be offered briefings over the weekend outlin- ing the likely scope of the Commons motion on Syria.
Last night French president Francois Hollande made a direct plea to Labour MPs to back David Cameron’s plans for RAF bombing against IS in Syria. Speaking at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Valletta, Malta, he said: ‘I do hope that the House of Commons will be able to meet the request of Prime Minister Cameron.’
Mr Corbyn enraged senior MPs on Thursday by issuing a letter warning them to vote against the Prime Minister’s plans, only hours after a substantial majority of members of the Shadow Cabinet told him they supported air strikes.
Former frontbencher John Woodcock said the party was in an ‘utter, chaotic, shambolic mess’ over the issue of whether to go to war.
Ex-armed forces minister John Spellar became the first Labour MP to call publicly for Mr Corbyn to go. He described his leader’s behaviour as ‘unacceptable’ and warned the party had suffered a ‘coup’ by a
‘Utter chaotic, shambolic mess’
‘tiny group of Trots’. Mr Spellar urged Shadow Cabinet moderates to stand and fight, adding: ‘If anyone should resign after this incident, it should be Jeremy Corbyn.’
Former Home Office minister Fiona Mactaggart agreed. Asked if Mr Corbyn should quit, she told the BBC: ‘I think that would be a sensible strategy.’ Even anti-war MP Paul Flynn admitted Mr Corbyn may be unable to carry on unless he can rescue the party from a ‘terrible mess’.
And Frank Field, a former welfare reform minister, who was one of 36 MPs to nominate Mr Corbyn, said the party needed ‘an alternative leader’, The Independent reported.
Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk suggested Mr Corbyn could face pressure to go as soon as next Thursday if Labour fails to hold the safe seat of Oldham West in a byelection where it is facing a stiff challenge from Ukip. Mr Corbyn yesterday pulled out of a campaign visit to Oldham West after aides warned it was likely to be overshad- owed by the row. Instead he spent the day trying to shore up support.
Miss Abbott, Labour’s international development spokesman, told LBC radio that she backed Mr Corbyn’s opposition to war. But she acknowledged that he needed to demonstrate quickly that his style of politics could win elections.
Asked how long he had to prove himself, she replied: ‘Peter Mandelson did a piece saying that it’s premature to remove Jeremy at this time and people should wait and see how the May elections go. That’s the Mandelson timetable and that ought to be good enough for anybody.’
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, Mr Corbyn’s closest ally, called on MPs to ‘calm down’.
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