‘There is a rule by fear’ Umunna continued his condemnation of the culture within the Labour party. He told Ridge that he has received threats from supporters of Jeremy Corbyn and said that at times his experience has been ‘extremely unsettling’, adding that ‘the extraordinary has become ordinary’:CU: After really soul-searching on this issue, can I, in all conscience, say that I want to make Jeremy Corbyn Prime Minister? And the team around him, put them in charge of our national security? At the 2017 general election, let’s just be honest, nobody thought that was going to be a prospect. At a future general election, it could be a prospect and in all conscience I can’t do that…
Corbyn ‘has questions to answer’ on anti-Semitism Umunna blasted his former leader for a failure to adequately tackle the challenge of anti-Semitism in Labour, which has blighted the party for some years. He made clear that this issue was one of the most significant reasons for his resignation:CU: These types of behaviours have become normalised. SR: …Do you blame Jeremy Corbyn? CU: I blame Jeremy Corbyn, but I also blame other people who have acted as bystanders…The problem is, it’s too easy to choose an easy life because there is a rule by fear.
Barry Gardiner – Umunna knew he could never be Labour leader The shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner joined Ridge to give his response to Umunna’s interview. Gardiner did not pull his punches, accusing Umunna of trying to further his own career:CU: I don’t know whether [Corbyn] is personally anti-Semitic. His actions would seem to suggest he’s got questions to answer on that front. But I’ve been very clear that the Labour party is institutionally anti-Semitic. And you either put your head in the sand and ignore it, or you actually do something about it. And the failure to do something about it – it made my position untenable.
Anti-Semitic abuse coming from ‘a very tiny minority’ Gardiner expressed remorse over the defection of Liverpool Wavertree MP Luciana Berger, who had received notably high levels of anti-Semitic abuse in the run-up to her departure. Gardiner issued an apology for Labour’s handling of anti-Semitism in the House of Commons on Wednesday. However, he stressed that the abuse represented a very small number of Labour’s membership:BG: What really came across most out of that particular interview was that here was somebody who had no great policy difference. It was all about personality… It was fairly clear to me that in effect, the reason that he wanted to leave the Labour party was that he knew he could never be the leader of the Labour Party.
‘I have no time for the others at all’ Gardiner then doubled down on his comments regarding the other seven Labour MPs who have left Labour to join the Independent Group:BG: For Luciana, I was deeply saddened that she felt that she had no alternative but to leave the party because of the racist, anti-Semitic abuse she had suffered… If you look at this as a percentage of the Labour membership… it’s 0.01%, so we’re talking about a very tiny minority in the party that are causing huge distress by the appalling way in which they are behaving.
Tom Watson – This is ‘a crisis for the soul of the Labour Party’ Andrew Marr was joined by Labour’s Deputy Leader Tom Watson. Watson told Marr that he was under no illusions as to how serious the party’s current situation was:BG: I have no time for the others at all, because actually their reasons are varied, but different – many of them personal reasons… SR: So you don’t believe their worries about anti-Semitism? You think they’re not being sincere? BG: No, but what I’m clear about is that I don’t think that’s the sole focus of why they’ve left the Labour party.
Corbyn’s test is to eradicate anti-Semitism Watson said that the reforms enacted by the Labour’s General Secretary to combat anti-Semitism had ‘not been adequate’ and told Marr that this week alone he had received 50 such complaints from his parliamentary colleagues. He suggested that a more robust response was sorely needed:TW: For us to hold this party together, things have got to change. There’s almost a sort of crisis for the soul of the Labour Party now, and that means that everyone who care about our future, whatever tradition they represent, has to find it within themselves to work more closely together. And that’s as big a challenge for Jeremy as it is for me, but it’s one that we’ve got to take.
Michael Gove – Government policy is to leave on 29th March Marr also spoke to the Environment Secretary Michael Gove. With the official Brexit deadline day inching ever closer, the question has been raised by a group of senior Cabinet ministers as to whether the government should consider extending Article 50 in order to secure more negotiating time with the EU. Marr asked whether this was being given serious consideration:TW: The test for [Corbyn] as leader is to eradicate anti-Semitism, and it’s not other Labour Party members who will be judge of that, it’s the British Jewish community. And I think he understands now that if he is ever going to be Prime Minister he needs to rebuild that trust… The way he will now have to do that is to review those cases and to the [party’s] National Executive Committee… That is the only solution now, because time is against us.
I want to avoid Brexit resignations Continuing on Brexit, Marr asked Gove if it would be possible for ministers such as Amber Rudd and Greg Clark to back the so-called Cooper-Boles amendment, which would require the government to seek an extension to Article 50 as well as taking a ‘no deal’ Brexit outcome off the table, and to remain within the government. Gove was evasive on this possibility:MG: It is government policy to leave on the 29th of March, and it is government policy to do everything we can to get there… I think the most important thing to do is, when you have colleagues who express concerns… it’s important to listen to those concerns in a civilised way, and to seek to reconcile those concerns with the vital importance of making sure that we get a deal that can avert either no Brexit, or no deal.
Luciana Berger – We won’t agree on everything And finally, Marr interviewed Luciana Berger and her fellow Independent Group MP Heidi Allen. With the fledgling group still to have its inaugural meeting, Marr put the point to them that there may be trouble on the horizon:MG: I’ve said clearly that I want people to vote against Yvette [Cooper]’s amendment, and stay in government. AM: That’s not the question. If they vote the other way, can they stay in government? MG: I will do everything I can in order to persuade my colleagues, who I admire very much, to stay in government.
AM: Are you a big fan of George Osborne? LB: We are not going to agree on everything. We come from political traditions. We come from different generations, and we come from different parts of the country. But what binds us together is our values, and our commitment to doing something different on behalf of [our] constituents.
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