Labour MPs undermining our leader in Commons, says Abbott
ONE of Jeremy Corbyn’s closest allies has lashed out at Labour MPs for undermining him in the House of Commons.
Mr Corbyn’s performance at the dispatch box on Wednesday when he faced Theresa May for the first time at Prime Minister’s Questions has been strongly criticised by Labour leadership challenger Owen Smith.
However Diane Abbott, the Shadow Health Secretary, said the refusal of Labour MPs to get behind their leader made it difficult for him to make headway against the Government.
“If Owen Smith wants Jeremy to score over Theresa May at Prime Minister’s Questions he needs to talk to his colleagues,” she told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
“They refuse to cheer, they sit on their hands, they sulk, they chat among themselves. Some of these Labour MPs need to understand it is not about supporting Jeremy as a person, it is about going into the chamber for Prime Minister’s Questions and supporting your party.
“When Theresa May came in she got huge cheers from the Tory benches. When Jeremy came in there was silence. If your own side isn’t behind you, it is really difficult to hit your stride.”
Ms Abbott warned that Mr Smith’s history as a lobbyist for US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer would count against him when it came to the ballot of party members which will decide the leadership contest.
“There is no issue closer to party members’ hearts than the NHS. I don’t believe that someone whose history is having been a special adviser and a pharmaceutical company lobbyist is going to enthuse the base,” she said.
“People find the link between lobbyists and politics very distasteful and having been a former pharmaceutical company lobbyist will not help Owen Smith.”
Mr Smith said he was “furious” at Mr Corbyn’s performance at the dispatch box, telling The Guardian that the Labour leader is “just not up to the job”.
The Pontypridd MP said: “I was more than frustrated: I was furious that we were sitting there with a Tory Government that has imposed swingeing cuts on public services, on tax credits, on universal credit, that have smashed women and public sector workers the length and breadth of Britain, and we are taking lectures from them about social justice and economic fairness.
“It makes my blood boil to see us so useless at saying to them, ‘How dare you have the temerity to make these claims, to make these arguments?’
“Jeremy is just not up to the job of taking them on at the despatch box. I don’t think he enjoys it, I don’t think he’s robust enough at arguing Labour’s case.”
Labour’s Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, refused to be drawn on who he was backing in the leadership race.
“What’s really important is that Labour selects a candidate at the end of the process who gives us a better chance of winning the next general election,” he said.
“Both Owen and Jeremy have got lots and lots of pros and strengths and I’m looking forward to a good, clean contest.”