Corbyn under fire as Labour MPs urge ‘out of touch’ party to change
LABOUR is facing warnings that it must fundamentally and urgently change after huge numbers of voters in its traditional heartlands rejected Jeremy Corbyn’s pleas to support continued EU membership, sparking a new spate of bitter infighting.
Senior figures blamed a failure to confront divisive issues such as immigration for the gulf between the official party line and referendum results in working class towns and cities, particularly in the north of England and Wales, where Labour has dominated for decades.
Questions were asked of Mr Corbyn’s leadership, who was criticised by some for keeping a relatively low profile during the campaign and did not participate in any televised debates, with calls for him to step down appearing to resurface.
As the last votes were cast, former minister Ian Lucas warned the party needs a “big change in its approach”.
While the party has already lost its Scottish citadels to the SNP, there were warnings that it has now suffered permanent damage in English and Welsh areas that were once seen as impenetrable.
In Newcastle upon Tyne, one of Labour’s most consistent strongholds, Remain scraped home by less than 2,000 votes from almost 130,000 cast, despite the city being predicted to record a thumping endorsement for the EU.
In nearby Sunderland, which returned three Labour MPs with huge majorities at last year’s General Election, more than 60 per cent backed Leave, an early result that sent shockwaves through the Remain camp.
In South Tyneside, an area with two Labour MPs with majorities of more than 10,000, Leave stormed to victory with 62 per cent of the vote. Wales was also set to record a far lower than predicted Remain vote, with Swansea backing an EU exit in a shock result. Merthyr Tydfil, Newport, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent also backed Leave.
As internal tensions boiled over, senior MP Chris Bryant labelled former leader Ed Miliband “a tosspot” and suggested he might punch him for the state he left the party in.
Mr Miliband, however, backed his successor Mr Corbyn saying his stance on the EU chimed with the “reluctant Remain” view of many British people. Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell insisted Labour had been listening but admitted that voters “don’t think we’ve been listening enough”.
While Mr Corbyn said that free movement rules meant there could be no immigration cap in the EU, his main shadow cabinet ally said: “We need to protect people from having their wages undercut”.
Kate Hoey, the pro-Brexit Labour MP, warned her party it will permanently lose voters by adopting a pro-EU stance and dismissing their concerns on immigration.
She said: “We will find thousands and thousands of Labour supporters abandoning the Labour view on this because we’ve known for a long time, being out there, that Labour supporters, the Labour Party view on this, is out of step with Labour supporters and ex-La- bour supporters, who I’m afraid we’ll probably find will not come back to us after the way the leadership have fought this campaign of staying in.”
Jamie Reed, Labour MP for Copeland, has been warning for several years about the party’s identity crisis in its heartlands.
He said: “Whatever the result, the country must change and without doubt, there is a crystal clear need for fundamental change within the Labour Party: fundamental and rapid. In or out of the EU, this is an inescapable fact from which the party cannot continue to hide.”
Labour MP and Leave campaigner John Mann described his party is “out of touch”.
Asked where Labour’s got it wrong, he said “I’ve been saying it for 10 years” it’s not been in touch with its voters on immigration.