Nandy blasts Corbyn over novichok
LABOUR leadership hope Lisa Nandy has torn into Jeremy Corbyn for cosying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin and blundering on Brexit.
The backbench MP, whose support is surging, slammed the outgoing leader for “standing with” Moscow after the Salisbury chemical attack in March 2018.
She also took a swipe at contest frontrunner Sir Keir Starmer for Labour’s failed EU policy.
Ms Nandy, who started out as an outsider in the race, is now second favourite with Corbynista candidate Rebecca Long Bailey.
She slammed Mr Corbyn for
“casting doubt” on Russia’s responsibility for the novichok poisonings that resulted in the death of Dawn Sturgess.
She added: “We stood with the Russian government and not with the people it oppresses.
“When we chose to show solidarity with Putin rather than the Russian people, we utterly failed to live up to our values. I never want to see us do that again.”
Ms Nandy, in setting out her vision for Britain after Brexit, accused Mr Corbyn of falling
“into a trap” laid by the Tories. She said Leave campaigners presented the UK as a “small nation with a proud history of punching above our weight” but all Remainers could offer was to “cut your mobile roaming charges”.
When it came to Sir Keir, who as shadow Brexit secretary was responsible for Labour’s fudged policy, the MP said she had urged the frontbench last year to “take the offer” from Theresa May that gave extra guarantees on the terms of divorce deal.
Ms Nandy added: “Every one of us in this contest has to accept that Labour has got it wrong.”