Labour, as we know, is a party which has fallen into the hands of a dreamy left-wing idealist who is out of touch with the public, and who has managed to push out the party’s down-to-Earth moderates – people who, like Tony Blair, understand that if Labour wants to win power it must appeal to broad swathes of Middle England. That, at least, is how it seemed until this week. But it all looks a little different after 20 backbench Labour MPs defied the whips to vote against the Chancellor’s decision to raise income tax thresholds. Jeremy Corbyn had instructed his MPs to abstain.
It is astonishing to read the names of the rebels: Yvette Cooper, Liz Kendall, Lucy Powell, Jess Phillips, Margaret Hodge. These are supposed to be Labour’s heirs-to-Blair – the wing of the party desperate to return it to the centre ground.
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