Jeremy corbyn

Watch: Labour’s new shadow Justice Secretary turns on his fellow MPs at Momentum rally

While Corbyn faced an open revolt from MPs at tonight’s meeting of the PLP, over in Parliament Square the Corbyn fightback got underway as hundreds gathered for a Momentum rally in support of the Labour leader. Not content with the drama at the meeting, Richard Burgon — Labour’s former blunder-prone shadow City minister who has just been promoted to Shadow Justice Secretary —  left early to attend the rally. In his speech to the Corbynistas, he turned on his fellow MPs, accusing them of ‘behaving like bullies’ inside Parliament: https://twitter.com/katyballs/status/747493155621199873 ‘I think everyone in the Parliamentary Labour party can hear you shouting tonight. Cos I’ll tell you this, I’ll be quite open about it: some people

Steerpike

Watch: Jeremy Corbyn heckled by his own MPs – ‘resign!’

It’s not proving to be a great day for Jeremy Corbyn. After over half of his Shadow Cabinet resigned, the Labour leader has now faced a revolt in the Chamber. While giving a statement on the European referendum, Corbyn called for MPs to refrain from in-fighting: ‘The country will thank neither the benches in front of me or the benches behind for indulging in internal factoring maneuvering at this time.’ Alas his words on party unity hit a bum note with those on the Labour benches. MPs looked incredulous as Corbyn spoke, and shortly began a chorus of heckles urging him to resign — with Toby Perkins and Chris Evans leading

Isabel Hardman

Labour makes a mess of holding the Government to account as Parliament returns

Even when Britain has just voted to leave the European Union, Commons business must go on. And so this afternoon the first item on the agenda in the Chamber was not the statement from the Prime Minister on Brexit and his own resignation, but Defence questions.   This should have been awkward for the Government, which is in chaos at the moment. But instead it was awkward for Labour, whose newly-appointed Shadow Defence Secretary Clive Lewis was unable to get back to Westminster from the Glastonbury Festival in time. Despite kind offers to help from supportive friends of Jeremy Corbyn, Emily Thornberry stepped into the breach instead, telling the Chamber that

Isabel Hardman

Jeremy Corbyn is going to fight to the bitter end

Despite the rolling programme of frontbench resignations in the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn is clearly planning to fight to the bitter end. Labour sources are repeatedly insisting that he will definitely be on the ballot paper in a new contest, and referring to the mandate he has already been handed by members. A Corbynite source said: ‘We are not going to betray that trust by dumping the democracy of the Labour party if there is a leadership challenge. ‘The only way that the leadership of the party will change will be if the members decide that.’ The reason Corbyn is staying put is because he still believes that the membership

Steerpike

Jeremy Corbyn’s new Shadow Defence Secretary goes MIA on first day

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

Katy Balls

Jeremy Corbyn begins Shadow Cabinet reshuffle – Emily Thornberry for Shadow Foreign Secretary

After losing 12 members of his Shadow Cabinet on Sunday and with a vote of no confidence looming, there was speculation that Jeremy Corbyn would have a hard time filling the vacancies. However, this morning Labour have announced his new Shadow Cabinet recruits. The list of ten new appointments is comprised of many known Corbyn loyalists, as well as a round of new MPs who came through in the 2015 General Election: Emily Thornberry has been promoted to Shadow Foreign Secretary, while Diane Abbott has been given the role of Shadow Health Secretary. Pat Glass’s EU gaffe (in which she called a voter a ‘horrible racist‘) seems to have done her

Isabel Hardman

Jexit: running tally of Labour frontbench resignations

Jeremy Corbyn has insisted he is staying put, despite a vote of no confidence from Labour MPs passing by a big majority. Frontbenchers have now been resigning one after since Sunday 26th June to show that they want Corbyn out. And moments after the party leader issued a statement to say he was staying put, the latest round of resignations were announced. Here’s our full tally of who has stepped down from the shadow cabinet: Monday 4th July: Fabian Hamilton, the shadow Europe minister has stepped down from the Labour frontbench. Thursday 30th June: 3.30pm Rob Marris quits during a bill committee. The shadow Treasury secretary said he wanted to raise a point

Jeremy Corbyn vows to fight on after day of resignations

Jeremy Corbyn’s enemies in the Labour party had hoped that the leader would do the ‘decent thing’ and stand down after the day-long programme of frontbench resignations had made it clear that he will not be able to run an effective opposition. But this evening he has made it clear that he doesn’t agree with this assessment of the state of his frontbench, releasing a statement that says he will carry out a reshuffle tomorrow, and fight on. You can read the full statement below. What it means is that the coup against the Labour leader will have to be brutal and will likely involve a motion of no confidence

Steerpike

Simon Danczuk comes to Jeremy Corbyn’s rescue

Today Jeremy Corbyn has had not one, not two, not three but ten Shadow Cabinet members hand in their resignation. What’s more, with a growing number of Labour MPs confessing to having lost faith in the Labour leader over the EU referendum result, he now faces a difficult task trying to fill the vacancies. Happily, one man has nobly volunteered his services. Step forward Simon Danczuk: Have phoned Jeremy & said if required, I'm prepared to serve. I am prepared to make that sacrifice for the Labour Party. — Simon Danczuk (@SimonDanczuk) June 26, 2016 Yes, the MP — who has proved to be a thorn in Corbyn’s side ever since he was

Katy Balls

John McDonnell leads Shadow Cabinet fightback for Corbyn’s survival – ‘he’s going nowhere’

The Shadow Cabinet fightback is on. After Hilary Benn appeared on the Andrew Marr Show to set out the reasons for a no confidence vote in Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell has appeared on the Sunday Politics to make the case for the Labour leader. While Benn — along with a growing list of MPs who have today resigned from the front bench — argued that Corbyn is not up to being leader, McDonnell has reminded MPs of his mandate. ‘Jeremy’s not going anywhere,’ the shadow chancellor told Andrew Neil. ‘He was elected nine months ago, the biggest mandate of any political leader in our country, and he is not going anywhere.’ McDonnell has also attempted to put an

Steerpike

What Labour coup? Tom Watson parties the night away at Glastonbury

As Jeremy Corbyn tries to hold off the threat of a coup from members of his shadow cabinet, it’s probably for the best that he pulled out of a planned appearance at Glastonbury today. However, not everyone in Labour’s top command appears to have received the memo about putting the party’s woes above the annual music festival. Step forward Tom Watson. Labour’s deputy leader had no qualms about living it up at Worthy Farm last night. In fact, Labour’s worries over Europe appeared to be far from Watson’s mind as he used snapchat to document his crazy night on the — muddy — tiles: Tom Watson's final Glastonbury snapchat…. He must be on a

Watch: Jeremy Corbyn heckled over Europe at London Pride – ‘it’s your fault!’

It’s not turning out to be a great weekend for Jeremy Corbyn. First he had to pull out of a planned appearance at Glastonbury on Sunday to focus on Brexit, now his visit to London Pride has, too, been ruined by the referendum result. On meeting with members of Labour’s LGBT community at Pride, Corbyn was repeatedly heckled over Remain losing the EU referendum. In a video shared on Twitter, Labour members repeatedly shout at the party leader: ‘It’s your fault Jeremy! It’s your fault! When are you resigning? I had a Polish friend in tears because you couldn’t get out the vote in Wales, the North and the Midlands.’ I get so

Isabel Hardman

Will Jeremy Corbyn step down as Labour leader?

Jeremy Corbyn is giving a speech this morning about Labour’s response to the EU referendum. Rumours have been sweeping the party overnight that the Labour leader will use the event to step down and hand over the reins to John McDonnell, who has been on manoeuvres for months. But aides deny that this will happen today. Nevertheless, there must be recognition in the Corbyn team that the situation is pretty precarious. The lengthy Shadow Cabinet meeting yesterday wasn’t as furious as some other parts of the parliamentary Labour party might have hoped, but some members are discussing resigning en masse to trigger a change at the top of the party.

Labour MPs table no confidence motion in Jeremy Corbyn

In the past few minutes, two Labour MPs – Margaret Hodge and Ann Coffey – have submitted a motion of no confidence in Jeremy Corbyn. This is not a surprise given how angry the parliamentary party was after last night’s referendum results in its heartlands, but it now depends on whether their parliamentary colleagues have enough confidence to speak in its favour at a discussion at the parliamentary Labour party meeting on Monday, and then to back it in a secret ballot of the parliamentary party the following day. It is not yet clear whether the rebels, who have been preparing for this for a while, yet have the numbers.

Isabel Hardman

Leaked: Labour’s script responding to its terrible referendum result

As Katy reported earlier, Labour has prepared a script that attempts to exonerate Jeremy Corbyn for the party’s terrible night in its heartlands in this referendum. I have now been leaked that script, which MPs are expected to use from 6am, and it makes rather entertaining reading. The best line is the following: ‘Jeremy Corbyn has showed that he is far closer to the centre of gravity of the British public than other politicians. He is now the only politician who can unite a divided country, as he can speak to both sides.’ It also says that ‘Jeremy is uniquely placed as a critical remainer. He understands why people voted

A new home for Old Labour

On the eve of last year’s general election result, many pundits predicted the demise of Britain’s two-party system. The likeliest outcome was another hung parliament in which one of the smaller parties — the Lib Dems or the SNP — held the balance of power. These same pundits pointed to the steady decline in membership of the two main parties, as well as the success of insurgent parties in the European and regional elections, as evidence of this sea change. In the event, the pundits were ridiculed for getting it wrong. Yet is it possible they were just a year too early? The surprise Brexit win in yesterday’s EU referendum looks like it

Has Jeremy Corbyn rebelled against himself and voted Leave?

How do you think Jeremy Corbyn voted in the privacy of the booth? Might he have kept his 100 per cent record of rebellion by even rebelling against himself, and voting Leave in line with his long-held anti-EU beliefs? It won’t be long before politicians start tweeting selfies with their ballot papers; a ghastly development, obviously, but I’d like to have seen his. This is an extract from Andrew Roberts’ diary. The full article can be found here. 

Nick Cohen

Fascism is alive in Britain – on both the left and the right

At the time of writing, no one knows the result of Britain’s European Union referendum. But everyone has learned in the hardest manner imaginable that Britain has a fascist movement. A real fascist movement, that is. Not what students with incontinent tongues call ‘fascism’, which turns out to be the beliefs of anyone who disagrees with them. But actual fascism that legitimises racial hatred, conspiracy theory, ethnic cleansing and the assassination of left-wing politicians. Since the murder of Jo Cox we have learned another truth, which ought to be uncontroversial but is everywhere resisted. The far right and the far left are essentially the same. For all their voluble differences,

Brendan O’Neill

The EU may well survive today’s vote — but the left won’t

If you’ve heard a whirring noise in the background of today’s momentous vote, don’t worry: it’s just Tony Benn turning in his grave. Benn was one of Britain’s keenest, and most articulate critics of the European Union. He and other Labour grandees, along with top trade unionists, raged against the EU for being aloof and arrogant and for usurping parliament. Summoning up his Chartist soul, his love of the Levellers, his belief that radical Britons didn’t fight and die over centuries for the sovereignty of parliament just to see it overturned by some well-fed suits in Brussels, he would slam the EU for having not a ‘shred of accountability’ and