BACK CORBYN OR QUIT, WARNS RED LEN
Union chief in warning to the plotters Leader’s showdown with his MPs
LABOUR MPs plotting to oust Jeremy Corbyn over Syria are ‘writing their own political obituaries,’ the militant union boss Len McCluskey warned last night.
He said that MPs calling for Mr Corbyn to quit are ‘playing with fire’ – and suggested they could face political reprisals.
Mr McCluskey, whose Unite union is Labour’s biggest donor, urged MPs to vote against David Cameron’s proposals for an ‘illegal and irrational war’ in Syria. And he turned his fire on MPs who have criticised Mr Corbyn’s dithering over the issue.
Yesterday Labour MP Stephen Kinnock, son of former leader Neil Kinnock, claimed Mr Corbyn could be ousted if the party’s civil war causes it to lose Thursday’s by-election in the safe seat of Oldham West.
Former Labour ministers John Spellar and Fiona Mactaggart have also called for Mr Corbyn to quit.
But writing on the Huffington Post website yesterday, Mr McCluskey accused Mr Corbyn’s internal critics of treachery. ‘We cannot have a free-for-all party,’ he said, adding: ‘If those Westminster bubble- dwellers who hanker back to the politics of the past cannot show the elected leader – and those who voted for him – more respect, then they are writing their own political obituaries.’
His intervention will fuel fears among moderate MPs that they face deselection if they speak out against Mr Corbyn’s hard-Left agenda. And last night Labour was pushed to the brink of civil war after Mr Corbyn insisted he will be the one deciding whether or not to support air strikes in Syria. Mr Corbyn suggested that he could overrule the pro-bombing majority in the Shadow Cabinet and tell all Labour MPs to vote against Mr Cameron’s plan to attack Islamic State terrorists in Syria.
In an appearance on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show, Mr Corbyn said his ‘socialist heart’ opposed war. He suggested air strikes could provoke a terror attack on Britain. And he dismissed warnings from security services that terrorists in Syria are plotting attacks on the UK, saying: ‘Those attacks could be planned from anywhere.’ He also made it clear that he reserved the right to order the party to vote against the war, regardless of the views of senior MPs, adding: ‘It is the leader who decides. I will make up my mind in due course.’
Despite his attempts to assert control over the Labour Party, last night it was unclear whether Mr Corbyn will actually be able to order a whipped vote.
One source suggested the chief whip Rosie Winterton might refuse the order if it was not backed by a majority of the Shadow Cabinet. Another claimed that Labour’s rules mean that the Shadow Cabinet, rather than Mr Corbyn, has the final say – although the rules have never previously been tested.
Meanwhile, in another chaotic day for the Labour Party, senior figures, including deputy leader Tom Watson, the Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn, tried to persuade Mr Corbyn to soften his anti-war stance.
They plan to step up their efforts at an emergency meeting of the Shadow Cabinet today where they will try to agree a position on Syria before Mr Corbyn addresses a potentially explosive meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party this evening.
However their efforts prompted the party’s international development spokesman Diane Abbott to insist that shadow ministers who support the war should quit the front bench.
A Shadow Cabinet source has warned that Labour will be ‘torn apart’ unless Mr Corbyn agrees to offer a free vote. And yesterday Labour’s justice spokesman Lord Falconer refused to rule out quitting if Mr Corbyn tries to whip the vote. He confirmed there were ‘ significant differences’ within the Shadow Cabinet.
The infighting has prompted dismay on all wings of the party. Yesterday MP Clive Lewis, one of Mr Corbyn’s supporters, warned that the party was ‘in freefall’. Labour MP Jess Phillips added: ‘If the Labour Party cannot have consensus on this, that is very, very lamentable. I think it’s been handled appallingly.’ Dominic Lawson – Page 16
‘My socialist heart opposes war’