Corbyn’s shadow cabinet revolt after loss of Copeland
Labour MPs rue ‘disastrous’ by-election defeat and urge unions to ‘wield the knife’ if leader continues to struggle
and JEREMY CORBYN was yesterday facing a revolt from his shadow cabinet and union backers after the party’s “disastrous” defeat in the Copeland by-election.
The Labour leader and his allies blamed the defeat on Tony Blair, “fake news”, the “establishment” and even the weather after losing a seat it has held since 1935.
Cat Smith, one of Mr Corbyn’s shadow cabinet allies, even tried to claim it was an “incredible achievement” because the Tories won by only 2,000 votes.
However, Mr Corbyn’s union backers directly criticised his leadership, with Unison effectively giving him a fi- nal warning that he must accept some of the blame and “show he understands how to turn things around”.
Shadow cabinet sources concerned about Mr Corbyn’s leadership said they hope that Len McCluskey, the Unite leader, will “wield the knife” and withdraw his support if polls continue to show a substantial lead for the Tories.
Former Labour leadership candidate David Miliband suggested the party was at its weakest in decades, as he told the Times he was “deeply concerned” it was further from power “than at any stage in my lifetime”.
Barry Gardiner, shadow international trade secretary, said Labour faces an “existential” crisis and there would “inevitably” be questions about the leadership.
Baroness Smith of Basildon, the shadow leader of the Lords, said the result was “very bad” for Labour and that Mr Corbyn and the party’s leadership “must not bury our heads in the sand”.
Labour MPs accused the leadership of “insulting the public’s intelligence” over the “disastrous” result. David Winnick, a Labour MP, said Mr Corbyn is an “obstacle” to victory and should consider his position, while the leader of the Usdaw union called it a “wake-up call”.
The Labour leader yesterday refused 14 times to say whether he wanted a snap general election. He has previously said he would welcome one.
Mr Corbyn was forced to deny that he is now Mrs May’s “best friend” as he insisted he would not resign. He said: “I was elected to lead this party. We will continue our campaigning work.”
Pressed on whether he had “looked in the mirror” and wondered whether he might be the problem, Mr Corbyn said “no” and refused to elaborate.
John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, sought to provoke a row with Mr Corbyn’s internal critics by blaming Mr Blair, who last week criticised the current leader, for the defeat in Copeland.
Mr McDonnell said: “What’s interesting is that the overwhelming number of members of the party, the majority of the party, are saying ‘unite’. And we can’t have a situation like we did last week when Tony Blair comes out and attacks his own party.”
However, Mr Gardiner told The Daily
‘The blame for these results does not lie solely with Jeremy Corbyn, but he must take responsibility for what happens next’
Telegraph that Labour party is facing a “huge existential challenge” in the wake of the Brexit vote. While warning that it would be “madness” to hold another leadership election, he said: “We are not going to solve it by simply saying we can change one person at the top. We have to grapple with the issues and that is what the combined leadership of the Labour party has to do.”
Dave Prentis, the leader of Unison, warned that “no one objective could argue last night’s by-election results were good for Labour. Stoke should never have been in doubt and the result in Copeland was disastrous.
“The blame for these results does not lie solely with Jeremy Corbyn, but he must take responsibility for what happens next.”
Mr McCluskey said the Labour leader has to show he can “deliver hope that we can have a better, fairer Britain”. He has previously suggested that Mr Corbyn should resign if he cannot improve Labour’s ratings in the polls.