The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
‘Mammoth listening exercise’ a key issue
Shadow chancellor says party needs to address criticisms after seven MPs quit in protest
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has called for a “mammoth listening exercise” after seven MPs quit Labour in protest at the party’s direction.
The comments came as one of the group, Chuka Umunna, signalled a new centre party could be formally created by the end of the year.
The walkout saw party leader Jeremy Corbyn being warned he faces more resignations by Labour MPs unless he gets a grip on the problem of antisemitism within the party’s ranks.
Mr McDonnell told Sky news: “We need a mammoth, massive listening exercise and (to) address some of those criticisms that have been made.”
The shadow chancellor said the “only disagreement we have had within the party is around how we handle Brexit and I think we are bringing people together on that”.
Mr McDonnell played down suggestions that as many as 36 Labour MPs had been considering a split.
He said: “I don’t think there is that scale, but the key issue for us – and it was made clear at the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), Tom Watson said it and others – the Labour leadership, and I’m part of that, we need to keep listening, bring people in, talk to them.”
Asked when the breakaway group of MPs could evolve into an up-andrunning centre party, Mr Umunna told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I would like to see us move as quickly as possible and certainly by the end of the year, but that’s my personal view.”
He added: “There needs to be an alternative, so that’s perfectly possible. But I don’t get to determine this.”
Prominent Labour MP Mary Creagh said she had been approached to join the breakaway, but said no.
Ms Creagh told the BBC: “I think what’s important is that we now take a long hard look at ourselves as a political party.
“It’s clear that Brexit is pushing both parties to the brink. It’s clear that antisemitism has taken root in our party.”
Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey said the MPs who quit took an “agonising” decision as she called for unity.
Ms Long-Bailey told the BBC: “I know that the decision colleagues made to leave the party was agonising, but I honestly don’t think it was the right one.”
The MPs who quit Labour were branded “pathetic” by Derek Hatton, the firebrand former deputy leader of Liverpool City Council.
Speaking after it was reported he had formally been readmitted to the Labour Party 34 years after being expelled, Mr Hatton told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Of course it’s good to be back – in fact, in a way, I’ve never left.
“For 34 years I’ve stayed absolutely solid with the Labour Party. Never joined any other party, never actually voted for another party. Never campaigned for another party.”
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The key issue for us... we need to keep listening, bring people in, talk to them. JOHN MCDONNELL