It’s safe to say that today has not been a great day for the Corbyn campaign. After Yvette Cooper gave a speech claiming her Labour leadership rival’s policies are neither original nor credible, Corbyn’s good friend Paul Flynn has come out against him.
Despite being tipped for a plum role in Corbyn’s shadow cabinet should he be elected, Flynn — who endorsed Liz Kendall before he knew Corbyn was entering the race — says that he cannot support his like-minded colleague’s leadership bid:
‘My caller today asked why I have not declared support for Jeremy Corbyn. He is my closest friend among the candidates. I have spoken on more public platforms with him in recent years than any other MP. Tribune has forecast that I will be offered a star shadow cabinet role if Jeremy is elected! On all the key issues of war and environment in the Commons, we both always speak and vote on the same side.’
Despite their similar political stances, Flynn– who voted against the Welfare Bill — does not think Corbyn could lead Labour without the party becoming ‘politically impotent’. He says that ‘between the dream and the reality falls the shadow of realism’:
‘So why am I not voting for him for leader? It’s because Labour is a national political party, not a pressure group. It’s futile being ideologically perfect but politically impotent. We can change the leader: we cannot change the electorate.
I would love to believe that a Government with Jeremy’s policies could be elected in 2020. It would create a fairer, more rational and peaceful country. The achievements of the great 1945-51 Government could be repeated. If only. Between the dream and the reality falls the shadow of realism. Sadly, I fear that the Government of Attlee and Bevan would not be elected in 2020. I write as one of only a handful of MPs who worked in the 1945 election. I was a precocious ten-year-old political nerd but the excitement is still a prized living memory.’
While Flynn’s words are likely to come as a disappointment to Corbyn, he can at least take comfort that he has won yet another celebrity backer. The comedian Jack Whitehall writes in today’s Sun that he is a fan of the left-wing messiah. If only celebrities were eligible for the shadow cabinet.
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