Given the flak that Tom Watson received for partying until 4am at Glastonbury on Saturday as his party imploded, one could be forgiven for thinking that any remaining Labour MPs at the annual festival would have got out of there as soon as possible. However, there is a rumour doing the rounds that Corbyn’s new Shadow Defence Secretary Clive Lewis will not make it to Defence Questions today as he is… still on his way back from Glastonbury.
While Lewis’s office is yet to respond to Mr S’s request for comment, Corbyn can take heart that the Labour MP has at least been flying the flag for him at the music festival. Steerpike’s mole-in-the-mud reports that Lewis received cheers from attendees over the weekend after he vowed to stand up for Corbyn — before going on to slag-off the ‘out of touch’ Blairites.
However, one such Blairite could be about to come to his rescue. With the new Shadow Defence Secretary currently Missing in Action, Labour’s John Woodcock has volunteered his services for today’s session:
As bb defence chair, advised JC I'll speak from frontbench if new shadow defence sec not back from Glastonbury today pic.twitter.com/ThaDHKecun
— Lord Walney (@LordWalney) June 27, 2016
Given that Woodcock and Lewis have a chequered history, Mr S doubts Lewis will be thrilled by his potential stand-in. In December, Woodcock claimed Lewis shouted ‘f— you’ at him after the pair clashed over Syria. Meanwhile Woodcock’s strongly pro-Trident view means Corbyn is also likely to be reluctant to take him up on the offer.
Update: It seems Lewis hasn’t had much luck getting back in time. He is nowhere to be seen on the front bench, with Emily Thornberry now taking his place for the session.
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