Jeremy Corbyn lambasted by Labour MPs in 'worst meeting as leader'

MPs criticise Labour’s handling of Brexit and complaints of harassment and antisemitism
The Guardian
Jessica Elgot Chief political correspondent
Published: 16:04 Monday, 10 June 2019


Labour MPs tore into Jeremy Corbyn’s Brexit strategy at a party meeting on Monday night, with several MPs loyal to the leadership saying they felt ashamed to vote for the party at the European elections and urging a change of direction.

Marie Rimmer...whose speech inspired whoops and cheers in the room, told Corbyn: “People who worked with you for years are turning away from us.” In what colleagues described as an emotionally charged speech, Rimmer said that it “wasn’t easy for me to vote Labour” in the EU elections, and “the leadership is not there” on the party’s Brexit policy. “She eviscerated him,” one Labour MP said. “No one was expecting her to speak out like that.” Another called it “one of the best speeches I have ever heard in here – it clearly came from the heart”.

MPs also expressed alarm that Corbyn’s opening speech failed to mention the investigation into antisemitism in the party that has been launched by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The party’s handling of antisemitism cases was compared with the automatic expulsion of the former spin doctor Alastair Campbell for admitting he had voted Lib Dem in the European elections. Labour MP Wes Streeting suggested this was a double standard.


https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/10/jeremy-corbyn-lambasted-by-labour-mps-in-worst-meeting-as-leader?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other