Corbyn snubs his only MP in Scotland for three months
Murray’s friends describe leader’s attitude as a ‘joke’
JEREMY Corbyn has not spoken to his only MP in Scotland since he was re-elected Labour leader three months ago.
Friends of Edinburgh MP Ian Murray described the situation as “a joke”.
They said that Mr Corbyn had a brief discussion with Mr Murray at his party’s annual conference in Liverpool in September.
During their chat the Islington MP asked the Scot what it would take for him to re-join his shadow cabinet. He has not talked to him since. Mr Murray was one of 50 MPs who walked out of Mr Corbyn’s frontbench over the summer in protest at what they said was their leader’s “lacklustre” performance during the EU referendum campaign.
The Edinburgh South MP has publicly said that he will not return to Labour’s top team without some form of elections.
Mr Corbyn agreed to look at that idea in the immediate aftermath of his second leadership victory.
But the proposal has since been kicked into the long grass.
Friends of Mr Murray said: “It is just a joke. Corbyn has got only one MP in Scotland and he won’t even speak to him.”
Last night a spokesman for Mr Corbyn did not deny that the two men had not spoken in months.
But he said that staff in the leader’s office had met with Mr Murray a number of times since September to discuss a range of issues.
Yesterday, Mr Corbyn said that Labour was ready for a general election if Theresa May calls a snap poll, despite trailing the Conservatives by up to 17 points in some polls.
Mr Murray was the only Labour MP left standing north of the Border at last year’s election, following a huge surge of support for the SNP.
On a disastrous night for the party, Labour lost 40 of the 41 seats in Scotland it had taken in 2010.
Mr Murray, however, managed to hold on to his constituency and increase his majority from 316 to 2,637.
But plans to change the Westminster boundaries would effectively re-draw much of his seat, leaving him facing an uphill challenge if the next general election is held as planned in 2020.
Yesterday it also emerged that a number of Labour MPs in England have been warned that they may have to “isolate” themselves from Mr Corbyn in voters’ minds to shore up their support among the electorate.
A report drawn up by James Morris, a former polling adviser to Ed Miliband, and circulated among a group of “moderate” Labour MPs, warned that supporters were drifting away from Labour to Ukip.
The document recommended a “lifeboat strategy” to protect MPs from association with the Labour leader, suggesting they need to work out “how to run locally in a challenging context and isolate from Jeremy without increasing (the) perception of division”.
Last night a spokesman for Mr Corbyn said: “The Leader’s Office has met with Ian Murray a number of times since Labour Party Conference to discuss a range of issues.”
Mr Murray was replaced as shadow Scottish secretary by North East MP Dave Anderson, who ran into trouble when he suggested that Labour could be forced to do a deal with the SNP after the next general election, if his party wanted to secure the keys to Downing Street.
That idea appeared to be dismissed by Mr Corbyn a few weeks later, when he said he was not looking to form a coalition with the SNP.
But on the eve of the Labour conference Mr Murray said he did not know what the party’s policy was and accused Mr Corbyn of being “all over the place” on the issue.
Mr Murray was at the centre of controversy last week amid claims that Mr Corbyn stormed out of a Labour MPs Christmas celebration after the Scottish MP sang “Things Can Only Get Better”, the soundtrack to Tony Blair’s 1997 general election victory, at karaoke.
‘‘ The Leader’s Office has met with Ian Murray a number of times since conference to discuss a range of issues