Off our knockers

For Labour MPs, a summer without an election campaign on the horizon feels strange. After all, since 2014, we’ve gone non-stop from the Scottish Referendum to a general election to a Labour leadership contest to the EU referendum to another Labour leadership contest and another general election.

It’s been three whole years of knocking on doors, handing out leaflets, making phone calls and pleading for votes.

So if Brenda from Bristol spoke for the country a few months ago when she said “Oh, not another one!”, imagine how we felt! That’s why I laughed out loud last week when I saw some made-up nonsense in one of Rupert Murdoch’s papers saying that I was planning to challenge Tom Watson for Labour’s deputy leadership and force yet another campaign.

“Give me a break”, I said. And even more importantly, let’s give Brenda and the whole of Britain a break!