CORBYN RALLIES THE MOB
He urges MPs to join left-wing rabble-rousers in street protests aimed at crippling cities as Labour ramps up its war against Boris
LABOUR was accused of ‘unleashing the mob’ last night after the Corbynite group Momentum called on its followers to ‘occupy bridges and blockade roads’ to oppose the suspension of Parliament
Laura Parker, the group’s national co-ordinator, called for direct action in ten cities across the country tomorrow to counteract what she called Boris Johnson’s prorogation ‘coup’.
And last night Mr Corbyn urged MPs to attend the demonstrations.
In a letter to the Parliamentary Labour Party, he said he would be addressing a ‘major rally’ in Salford on Monday. He added: ‘There are also public protests this Saturday, and there will be a rally in Parliament Square on Tuesday, and I encourage Labour MPs to be present and to share our message.’
In his letter, Mr Corbyn said: ‘No one voted for Boris Johnson’s shutdown of democracy. That is why the public outrage at his actions has been so deafening, and why I am encouraging MPs to join public protests.’
Meanwhile hundreds of activists from the group ‘Defend Our Democracy’ held an angry rally outside Tory MP Alex Chalk’s constituency office in Cheltenham to confront him over the issue. Elsewhere, a former Labour council candidate sparked uproar by tweeting out leading Brexiteer Jacob ReesMogg’s home address yesterday and demanding people turn up outside to protest.
Anti-prorogation demonstrations have already been called in Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Sheffield and York on Saturday.
Momentum’s Miss Parker said the group was contacting all its supporters and encouraging them to ‘protest, occupy and blockade’ on Saturday. She added: ‘Our message to Johnson is this: if you steal our democracy, we’ll shut down the streets. This is an establishment coup by a tiny, privileged elite who have been eroding our democracy for decades.
‘Real power doesn’t sit with the Queen or in Parliament. It’s with us, the people – and that’s why we need to take action.’
The protest threatens travel chaos for workers, shoppers and tourists across the UK. Tory MP Michael Farbricant condemned the plans, saying: ‘Corbyn has unleashed the mob by not condemning the unlawful behaviour of his Momentum private army.’
His Tory colleague Andrew Bridgen said: ‘Corbyn is letting loose his Momentum anarchists to try to achieve what he cannot achieve through the ballot box.’
Tory MP Paul Scully added: ‘This shows the sinister lengths Corbyn’s hard-left supporters will go in their attempts to subvert the democratic decision of the British people to leave the EU.’
Hundreds took part in a demonstration outside Parliament on Wednesday night against the Prime Minister’s announcement. An online petition against prorogation had last night topped 1.5million signatures. Yesterday, former Labour council candidate Howard Simpson triggered fury by tweeting Mr Rees-Mogg’s home address in Somerset and demanding people turn up outside to protest. He later deleted his tweet after Labour MP Paula Sherriff wrote on Twitter: ‘Please do not do this. Peacefully protest elsewhere by all means but families, and particularly children are never fair game.’
Police were alerted after social media users posted the address of the pub near Mr Rees-Mogg’s home where they planned to meet before targeting the leader of the Commons. However, the demonstration turned into a damp squib when a handful of people showed up and were moved on by police. Last year a demonstration at Mr Rees-Mogg’s Westminster home drew widespread criticism after protesters shouted at his children.
A group of trade unionists has also called for strike action to defeat Mr Johnson’s Brexit plans.
More than 100 leading union reps signed a statement arguing for immediate direct action ‘despite legal restrictions’ placed on their organisations. The reps, whose membership spans Unite, NEU, GMB, Unison and other unions, promised ‘direct action, including protests, strikes, and occupations’.
Separately, thousands of ‘Stop the Coup’ activists signed a pledge which states: ‘If the government tries to drive No Deal through by stopping Parliament from sitting, we cannot just rely on the courts and parliamentary process. We need a massive movement of resistance, with marches, civil disobedience and protests.’
The demonstrations were backed by Labour Treasury spokesman Clive Lewis who on Wednesday pledged to stage a sit-in in the Commons chamber.
nBrexiteers yesterday cheered the return of Andrew Neil to the BBC, as it was announced he will front a new weekly politics programme. The Andrew Neil Show will air every Wednesday at 7pm from next week until the end of October, with a brief to dissect Brexit.
The veteran presenter – widely viewed as an antidote to the BBC’s left-wing leanings – has spent the last 16 years hosting late-night politics show, This Week, but stepped down earlier this year.
‘Marches and civil disobedience’