Jeremy Corbyn’s enemies within the Labour party are known to be dreaming about a time after his leadership. But why aren’t his opponents doing anything about getting rid of him? According to former Labour party advisor John McTernan, they should do it sooner rather than later. Speaking on the Spectator podcast this week, McTernan said:
‘If you’re going to assassinate someone, you chop off their head, you then chop them into pieces and bury them around the town. You don’t argue to yourself about the who right candidate is and when the right time is. He is the cause of his own assassination. No other cause is required. If you want rid of him, get rid of him.’
He also urged Labour MPs not to wait for someone else to do it, saying:
‘Everybody would like someone else to do it, when really it ought to be Murder on the Orient Express – they all need to do it.’
During his discussion with Isabel Hardman on the podcast, John McTernan went on to say that Corbyn was likely to claim credit for a Sadiq Khan win in London, even if their politics were at odds. Citing the Oldham by-election as an example, McTernan said despite a ‘resolutely Blairite candidate’ being chosen in Jim McMahon, ‘Corbyn claimed the credit (and) Corbyn will claim the credit for Sadiq becoming Mayor of London’.
But what happens if Zac wins? Could a Sadiq defeat spell the end for Corbyn? McTernan said that despite saying the Labour leader’s enemies should act quickly if they were going to oust him, he was still of the firm view that Labour would stick with their present leader until at least 2020 even if Khan doesn’t win in London. He said:
‘I think Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership in the party is pretty well unassailable. The people who support him in the party are happy with whatever result happens.’
Also on the podcast this week, Andrew Gilligan and former Metropolitan Police superintendent Leroy Logan discuss the rise of the British robo-cop: are the media and politicians dancing to terrorism’s beat in reacting to the terror threat?
Freddy Gray and the Republican Party Overseas’ Kate Andrews discuss whether after defeat in Wisconsin, whether it’s the beginning of the end for Donald Trump.
And Isabel Hardman speaks to the award-winning journalist Miles Goslett on his Spectator Kids Company expose, named this week as the scoop of the year at the London Press Awards.
To listen to all of this, click on the player below:
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