‘Juvenile’ Corbyn snubs crucial talks – because Labour defector was there
‘Blinded by his own prejudices’ ‘Petty party politics’
JEREMY Corbyn was accused of ‘extraordinary, juvenile’ behaviour last night after walking out of a crucial Brexit meeting with Theresa May – because Labour defector Chuka Umunna was also in the room. As a member of the breakaway Independent Group, Mr Umunna had been invited by the Prime Minister along with other opposition representatives.
Mr Corbyn’s refusal to be in the same room contrasts with his previous willingness to sit with members of the terror group Hamas – when he went as far as calling them his ‘friends’.
He explained his reluctance to join the former Labour MP at the meeting by complaining that Mr Umunna ‘wasn’t a proper party leader’.
But critics slammed such behaviour at a time when Britain’s future is hanging in the balance.
Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable said: ‘Jeremy Corbyn’s kinder, gentler politics was found wanting as he stomped out of the meeting before it began rather than breathe the same air as Chuka Umunna.
‘This is a rather strange way to behave at a moment of national crisis.’
Mr Umunna said the country was in ‘a crisis situation’ and British voters expected opposing political groups to come together to find a way forward, add- ing: ‘That’s why the Prime Minister convened the meeting, and I welcome the fact she did so.
‘I think it’s really extraordinary behaviour for the Leader of the opposition to behave in really this kind of very juvenile way when the moment demands that we all step up and engage in some serious dialogue to find our way through this chaos and this mess.’
others pointed out the Labour leader’s history of meeting extremists from Hamas and Hezbollah – as well as inviting IRA members to the Commons just days after the Brighton bombing in 1984.
John Woodcock, a former Labour MP who now sits as an independent with Mr Umunna, said: ‘ This man makes a grotesque virtue of fraternising with the violent extremists that many people conclude he sympathises with.
‘But at the moment that our country desperately needs MPs to reach an agreement on Brexit, he draws a line at Chuka Umunna.’
In october 1984, just two weeks after the Brighton bombing killed five people and injured 31, Mr Corbyn caused an uproar by inviting representatives of the IRA to the House of Commons.
In 2009, he was filmed at a Palestinian Solidarity Campaign event saying: ‘It will be my pleasure and honour to host an event in Parliament where our friends from Hezbollah will be speaking. I’ve also invited our friends from Hamas to come and speak as well.’
In 2014, Mr Corbyn visited the graves of terror leaders linked to the Munich massacre. The Daily Mail published a photograph of him holding a wreath just feet away from the graves of terror leaders linked to the 1972 killings of Israeli olympic athletes.
Countdown host rachel riley, who has been a victim of antiSemitic abuse from hard- Left activists, said: ‘Corbyn on Hamas (the terrorists): “I wanted Hamas to be part of the debate”. Corbyn on Chuka Umunna (the anti-racism ex-Labour MP): “Tell him I’m not talking to him”.’ Euan Philipps, spokesman for the group Labour Against Anti- Semitism, said: ‘Despite his claims, Jeremy Corbyn only ever speaks with people he agrees with.
‘While he seems prepared to talk with Hamas and Hezbollah, he won’t sit round a table with a south London MP even when to do so is in the national interest and at a time of crisis.
‘This is a man who appears too blinded by his own prejudices to do what is right for the country.’ Mrs May invited leaders of the other parties to the meeting in the Commons yesterday to discuss the way ahead on Brexit.
Conservative MP Simon Hoare said: ‘Jeremy Corbyn has always said in defence of his meetings with the IRA that you’ve got to sit down and talk to make progress.
‘He was given the opportunity today and he’s flunked it. It’s another indication that at times when statesmanship is required, he falls well wide of the mark.’ Chris Leslie, an independent MP, said: ‘Astonishing. yet again Jeremy Corbyn puts petty party politics before the national interest.’
SNP MP Stewart McDonald told Mr Corbyn to ‘get a grip’. He tweeted: ‘I mean, honestly, nine days until the country he wants to be Prime Minister of leaves the EU and Jeremy Corbyn has gone full “you can’t sit with us”. This isn’t Mean Girls. Get a grip of your life, man!’
Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson tweeted: ‘Jeremy Corbyn this evening channelling a teenager who doesn’t get his way.’
A Labour spokesman said: ‘ It was not the meeting that had been agreed and the terms were broken. Downing Street is in such chaos that they were unable to manage their own proposed meeting.’
Last night, two hours after he had walked out, Mr Corbyn spoke to Mrs May on the telephone for 20 minutes.
In a statement afterwards, he said: ‘The Prime Minister has shown tonight she is in complete denial about the scale of the crisis we are facing and unable to offer the leadership the country needs.
‘I made clear to the Prime Minister tonight that we must move immediately to agree a compromise alternative that supports jobs and living standards, can win the support of Parliament, be negotiated with the EU and bring the country together.’