Tag: Shadow Cabinet

Jeremy Corbyn has been challenged over party discipline at a shadow cabinet meeting for allowing his frontbench allies Ian Lavery and Jon Trickett to vote against a second referendum in defiance of a three-line whip. Shadow cabinet sources said the Labour leader was tackled multiple times during Tuesday’s meeting over the lack of frontbench unity, amid calls from backbench MPs for Lavery and Trickett to be sacked. Indirect criticism came from Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, and Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, who stressed the importance of shadow cabinet unity and facing up to difficult choices. Many Ashfield members voted to leave the EU. Labour is well placed to lead these efforts as our MPs represent constituencies that voted both leave and remain. It is now a matter for the leader and the whips.” Trickett, Lavery and Rayner were among a large group of shadow cabinet ministers who went to see Corbyn last week to protest against the party’s decision to whip for a second referendum. The indicative vote on a second, confirmatory referendum for any Brexit deal lost by a margin of only 12, with 16 Labour MPs – including Lavery and Trickett – abstaining and 24 voting against, mostly representing leave-dominated seats. “If you’re supposed to be chair of the Labour party but your votes align more closely with the ERG than with Labour members then it’s obviously time to go.” Former frontbencher Ian Murray also said: “You either serve in the shadow cabinet or you break the whip. It’s ridiculous and is a slap in the face to those who do comply in the shadow cabinet and is an act of extreme disloyalty to the leadership.” There were also recriminations on Tuesday between soft Brexiters and those in the people’s vote campaign who rejected less hardline alternatives to Theresa May’s deal such as the customs union and common market 2.0. Three abstained, all from the party’s remain wing.

Theresa May has cleared what was seen in advance as a perilous parliamentary hurdle, as over the course of a two-day debate MPs reversed or partially reversed 14 of the 15 defeats the government suffered on the EU withdrawal bill in the House of Lords. (It decided to accept the 15th.) Labour claims that it might achieve “a whole catalogue of victories against the government” proved unfounded. There were 20 divisions in total, and the government won them all fairly comfortably. May has not yet fully defused this row, and a further rebellion on this next week seems quite possible. Jeremy Corbyn faced his biggest backbench revolt since he became leader, as Labour’s divisions on Europe broke out once more tonight. A further 15 voted against. Many MPs were frustrated at the front bench attempt to fudge away party differences. The shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer said earlier this week that the party was too divided to pursue the so-called Norway option of EEA membership. But rebelling on the bill for the first time, Hilary Benn, the former shadow foreign secretary, who chairs the Commons cross-party Brexit committee, said there comes a point where “we have to stand up and be counted”.