Tonight’s meeting of the parliamentary Labour party could have been a lot worse. It was full of very concerned MPs, many of whom had complaints they wanted to air. A senior Labourite did say it was the most ‘uplifting’ meeting he had attended because of the ‘ferocity’ of attacks on Corbyn. Jack Dromey gave an angry speech about Ken Livingstone’s comments about the 7/7 bombers, which colleagues leaving said was ‘brilliant’, while others expressed concerns about Corbynite grassroots group Momentum, arguing it was going to divide the party. David Winnick described the group as a ‘party within a party’.
Afterwards, a senior Labour source said there was a ‘wide debate, with people speaking on both sides: exactly as Jeremy talked about’. He claimed that the balance of views had clearly shifted since the last PLP meeting – and in terms of mood at least, he seems to be right. Labourites leaving said they felt this meeting could have been far worse had no free vote been granted.
But is the claim from this source that the mood was shifting in favour of Corbyn’s position on Syria really right? The assumption in Labour circles is that delaying the vote will whittle down support for Cameron’s position.
It’s not right to say that Labour MPs are happy after today. Corbyn’s spokesman said it was ‘always going to be a bumpy ride’. But without a free vote, things would have been worse than bumpy.
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