One in three Labour MPs join Watson’s ‘party within a party’
More than a dozen frontbenchers turn out as Blairites and Brownites unite to take on Corbyn
THIRTEEN of Jeremy Corbyn’s frontbenchers piled pressure on their leader last night by turning up to the first meeting of Tom Watson’s rival group of MPs.
About 150 Labour politicians – including ten former Cabinet ministers – attended the packed gathering of the Future Britain group, which is seen as a rival to Mr Corbyn’s leadership.
neil Kinnock and Peter Mandelson also gave Mr Watson, the party deputy leader, their high-profile backing by attending the inaugural meeting in a committee room in Parliament.
Lord Kinnock, leader between 1983 and 1992, earned a round of applause when he spoke of his struggles against the hard Left – struggles which kept the party out of power for almost two decades.
Lord Mandelson, a Cabinet minister under Tony Blair, said the meeting marked the end of the fight between ‘the TBs and the GBs’ – the Blairites and the Brownites. Mr Watson denied the new grouping was a ‘faction’ or a ‘party within a party’ – but confirmed it would be putting forward policy ideas to rival Mr Corbyn’s.
And he warned his leader that unless he reined in his supporters and restored tolerance in the Labour Party, it would lead to a ‘ schism bigger than any we have experienced in our long history’.
Mr Watson established his group following the defection of eight Labour MPs to join the new independent Group. Among the frontbenchers at the inaugural meeting was Andy McDonald, Labour’s transport spokesman, and junior shadow ministers Liam Byrne and Gloria de Piero.
Former Cabinet ministers Lord Blunkett and Lord Prescott were also in attendance, as was Lord Donoughue, harold Wilson’s former head of policy.
A number of Jewish MPs who have criticised their leader over antiSemitism, including Dame Margaret hodge, came too.
Mr Watson said: ‘i know that the last thing the party needs is another faction and this group is certainly not one.
‘The last few weeks have been very difficult and upsetting. The departure of good people, in particular friends like Luciana and ian Austin, was for me a personal wake-up call to step up and do more. ‘ i really fear that unless we restore pluralism and tolerance to this party it will be irreparably damaged and we will see a schism...
‘i feel, and i suspect that many colleagues in this room feel, that the voice of the social democratic and democratic socialist traditions hasn’t been strong enough in recent times.
‘it is to defend those traditions that i’ve invited you here. not just because it’s critical for the future of the Labour Party. But because
these traditions are critical to the future of the nation.’ Darren Jones, another MP at the event, said the meeting was about the coming together of previous factions. ‘As Peter Mandelson said, he’s an unabashed Blairite but this is about the coming together of the TBs and GBs – that’s now history for us in the Labour Party,’ he added. ‘What we’re representing now is the mainstream.’
Pointing out that Mr Watson had been a prominent Brownite who helped topple Mr Blair, Mr Jones said: ‘he said he would now do whatever he could to help Tom and his group to achieve their outcomes which given their history is a symbol of the unity that we are creating.’ Lord Kinnock attended with his wife Glenys, who is a member of the Lords, and their MP son Stephen.
Mr Jones said that Lord Kinnock had told the meeting that the two things Labour needed to bring together were ‘our democratic socialist values and making sure that we have achievable affordable and possible policy positions so that the country can have trust in us’.
The group will concentrate on policy development, including ‘strengthening our multilateral institutions’. Mr Corbyn has questioned Britain’s membership of nato. An estimated 150 were in attendance – 80 MPs, a third of the total, and 70 peers.
‘Pluralism and tolerance’