The last few
years in the British Labour Party have been full of terrible misjudgements and mistimings.
Those last-minute
charity nominations for Corbyn in the summer of 2015.
The sullen acquiescence
of the PLP after Jez was first elected leader, providing him with breathing
space to consolidate his position.
The coup that
kept on being deferred in 2016. It would be in the new year. It would be after
the council elections. It would have to wait until after the EU referendum.
The eventual launch
of Angela Eagle’s bid to replace Corbyn. The sidelining of Eagle in favour of
Owen Smith, who then ran a campaign in which he claimed to share the left-wing politics of the man he aimed to replace.
The offer to Jez of a position as spiritual leader.
The sullen acquiescence
of the PLP after Jez’s second win in September 2016.
The cloak of
respectability given to Corbyn by people who should know far better. Tom
Watson. Emily Thornberry. Keir Starmer.
The complete collapse
of resistance after Corbyn achieved a better result in the 2017 election than anyone
had ever imagined.
The low point
of Harriet Harman claiming that Corbyn was now the heir to Blair.
But enough of
the past. The PLP now has a chance to redeem itself.
A perfect storm
has built up around Corbyn again in recent weeks.
No one should
really be that surprised about the pressure points involved: defence and national
security; the leadership’s facilitation of a hard Brexit; and the ongoing nightmare
of anti-semitism within the party.
Many MPs were
outraged at the Labour Leader’s response to the Skripal attack. Rather than
rally behind the Prime Minister in a time of crisis, he tried to score petty
political points and even laughably suggested that Moscow might like to review samples
of the nerve agent involved to confirm whether it was theirs.
Most members of the PLP realise that
Corbyn is not up to the job of defending the UK’s national interests.
The sacking of
Owen Smith suggests that Jez is living in a Trumpian bubble, where he believes
he can remove dissenters with impunity. Whatever we think of the idea of a
second referendum, it was countenanced at the Labour Party conference in 2016 and
is part of a debate that is raging in the world outside.
Most members of the PLP know that Corbyn
is instinctively opposed to the EU and wants to stay outside the single market.
They realise that this is one issue where they better represent the views of the wider
Labour membership than the Leader.
And now the
writing is on the wall over Corbyn’s commentary on an image of an anti-semitic
mural. Tom Watson claims the veteran socialist was ‘on the move’ and hadn’t
looked at the picture properly when he queried its removal. But why was Corbyn
even spending time in Facebook groups with such menacing imagery?
Most members of the PLP understand that
although Corbyn himself is not an anti-semite, he has zero credibility on the
issue and has failed to act decisively as racist tropes and memes circulate
among his fanbase.
Some lawmakers
have demanded that Corbyn answer questions on these issues at a meeting on
Monday night. The message from his minders, however, is that he doesn’t intend
to show up.
Once again, we
reach a crossroads. Will we see open revolt in the PLP? Possibly even a declaration
of independence in Parliament from the hard-left leadership and its Momentum
backers?
Now is the time
for action. The MPs have absolutely nothing to lose. Aaron Bastani – the head
of an alt-left media outlet called Novara, beloved of the Corbynistas – says that
‘several dozen’ of them are targets for de-selection.
So do their
careers end in humiliation? Or do they stand up and fight?
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