Labour’s united... by self-loathing

THE simmering tensions within the Labour Party over Article 50 finally spilled over on Wednesday night, with moderate Labour MPs openly venting their fury at Jeremy Corbyn’s mishandling of the issue.

‘It’s been a catastrophe,’ one backbencher said. ‘By announcing we were going to vote with the Government whatever happened, he sold the pass and pulled the rug out from the Tory rebels.’

Diane Abbott, who displayed genuine emotion at being forced to vote with the Government on the issue, was overhead asking a friend: ‘Do you think Jeremy has done the right thing on this?’ Few colleagues had much sympathy for her predicament, and when she walked into Strangers’ Bar after the final division, she was greeted with the spectacle of fellow MPs waving packets of aspirin, a reference to the ‘headache’ that caused her to miss the second reading vote.

Even Clive Lewis, the former Corbyn ally who resigned from the Shadow Cabinet to oppose the Government motion, found himself being openly mocked by his fellow backbenchers.

‘We realised Clive was going to vote against when he appeared in the lobby in this new blue suit,’ said one former Shadow Minister. ‘It was so bright you needed sunglasses to look at him.’ Another MP reported: ‘People were openly calling him “the new suit boy”.’

The only member of Team Corbyn who emerged from the evening with any credit was new chief whip Nick Brown, who even managed to earn the grudging respect of his leader’s most implacable opponents.

One said: ‘To be fair, it was amazing Corbyn managed to get through the whole thing with only one significant resignation. He’s got Nick to thank for that.’

He may do. But the scars from Labour’s Black Wednesday are going to take a long time to heal.