MPS attack Corbyn over ‘200 seats ploy’
JEREMY CORBYN has been accused of deliberately “lowering the bar” so he can stay on as Labour leader after his biggest union ally said the party’s worst result in 80 years would represent a “success”.
On Tuesday Len Mccluskey, leader of the Unite union, said Labour’s campaign could be considered a success if it held on to 200 seats – a loss of 29 seats and the party’s worst result since 1935 – which would see Theresa May win with an 80-strong majority.
His comments provoked a furious response from Labour MPS and members of Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet, who suspect it is a ploy to give Mr Corbyn an excuse to stay on even if the party goes backwards.
A shadow cabinet source told The
Daily Telegraph: “It’s completely unacceptable for Len Mccluskey to be selling out his own members by suggesting that five more years of Tory Government would be anything other than a total disaster.
“It’s blatantly an attempt to lower the bar so Jeremy can stay on as leader. The only successful result would be the election of a Labour Government.” Mr Corbyn has previously said he is prepared to stay on as Labour leader even if he loses the election.
Wes Streeting, a Labour candidate who is fighting to hold on to his seat in Ilford North, tweeted: “The Tories are aiming for a landslide at this election. That does not make 200 seats for a Labour a ‘successful campaign’. We fight on.”
Another Labour candidate added: “I think its pretty depressing that with three weeks to go until polling day, he seems to be engaging in a game of selfindulgent expectation management.” In an interview less than an hour after the publication of Labour’s manifesto Mr Mccluskey said the party faces an “immense” task and admitted: “I don’t see Labour winning”.
Yesterday he attempted to distance himself from his previous comments by insisting that he is now very much “up for the fight”.
It came as Mr Corbyn took a break from the campaign trail to focus on speech preparation, leading to speculation that the Labour leader could attend ITV’S leader’s debate tonight. Previously he had vowed not to take part because Theresa May refused to do so, but last night there were suggestions that he could change his mind in a bid to prove he is not afraid to defend his record. Labour insisted that he does not plan to take part.
Meanwhile, Labour said members of the shadow cabinet should feel free to send their own children to grammar schools despite Labour’s staunch opposition to them.
Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, said that where a child goes to school is “ultimately a parent’s choice” as she said it would be wrong to ban her colleagues from sending their children to grammar schools because “we are not a Stalinist state”.