Corbyn fires ex-rival over call for second Brexit referendum
JEREMY Corbyn was accused of a ‘Stalinist purge’ after he sacked a frontbench minister for demanding a second Brexit referendum.
Owen Smith, who stood against Mr Corbyn for the Labour leadership in 2016, was removed from his post as shadow Northern Ireland secretary.
He had said that Labour has the ‘right to ask’ whether a second vote may be right for the UK.
Last night Mr Smith, the 47-year- old MP for Pontypridd, tweeted: ‘Just been sacked by Jeremy Corbyn for my longheld views on the damage Brexit will do to the Good Friday Agreement and the economy of the entire UK.
‘Those views are shared by Labour members and supporters and I will continue to speak up for them, and in the interest of our country.’
Lord Hain, the Labour former Northern Ireland secretary, tweeted: ‘This is a terrible Stalinist purge. Owen Smith has been doing a terrific job on Northern Ireland, he’s ideal for the role with his experience, expertise and considerable ability. Widely respected.
‘In a Shadow Cabinet with few big hitters he was definitely one.’
Remain-supporting Labour MP Chuka Umunna said Mr Smith was ‘standing up for our principles’ and asked: ‘What has happened to our party?’
In a sign of the leader’s anger at Mr Smith’s intervention, he was asked to stand down from the frontbench and replaced with immediate effect by former shadow housing minister Tony Lloyd, the 68-year-old MP for Rochdale.
Mr Corbyn said: ‘Tony is a highly experienced former government minister who is committed to ensuring that peace in Northern Ireland is maintained and helping to steer the devolution deal back on track.’
A Labour official said Mr Smith was sacked for repeatedly breaking from the party’s position on Brexit, including advocating remaining in the EU single market.
Mr Corbyn, who supported the Remain campaign in the 2016 referendum but with little enthusiasm, has repeatedly said it is not Labour’s policy to offer Britons a vote on any final deal that Britain negotiates with the EU.
Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said: ‘ Owen Smith was a valued colleague, he wanted to make a contribution to the debate and he will be able to continue to do so.
‘What he can’t do is sit on our front bench and advance a position which is simply not Labour Party policy.’
Miss Abbott herself wrote to constituents in November saying that she would ‘argue for the right of the electorate to vote’ on the Brexit deal.
But she told Radio 4’s Any Questions: ‘We have debated this in the Labour Party, debated it seriously. But we are not calling for a second referendum.’