Per the BBC:
Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Mike Gapes, Gavin Shuker and Ann Coffey.
They claim it’s due to anti-semitism and Corbyn’s approach to Brexit. (The anti-semitism charges are, to my mind, essentially bogus. There is no more anti-semitism in Labour today than under Blair—-unless, of course, one thinks that criticizing Israel is anti-semitic.)
What’s interesting to me is simply that there are only seven and they aren’t starting a new party, but sitting as independents.
That means, frankly, that they’re almost certainly done: They’ll sit until the next election, when they will be replaced.
A LOT more than seven MPs supported the coup against Corbyn a year after he was first elected. A good two-thirds of Labour MPs did.
That this group could only find seven willing to leave the party means MP opposition to Corbyn, while it still exists, is no longer particularly serious. There was a point where people thought 30 MPs might leave. (Though I wouldn’t be surprised if they have a couple more leave, held back to extend news cycles.)
This makes headlines, but I think it’s more of a good thing than a bad one. These people were constantly attacking Corbyn, having them out of the party is good, and their replacements will almost certainly be loyal.
Whether Corbyn can win the next election remains to be seen. As for Brexit: He doesn’t have enough MPs to force anything. However, Europe has consistently said that it likes Labour’s ideas and would be willing to re-negotiate with it. Whether they’ll do so after Brexit, I don’t know, but there’s a better chance of Corbyn fixing things than May.
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Hugh
What I thought was so funny about this was the suggestion was made that if these seven MPs were standing on their principles and so certain of their support, they should resign immediately and let voters re-elect them in by-elections.
Hugh
File under you can’t make this shit up. 5 1/2 hours into its existence, this independent group is already imploding as one of its members, Angela Smith, made a comment about not just being about black or a funny tinge. Wags immediately dubbed the new political grouping the Funny Tinge party.
different clue
I was listening to either BBC or NPR . . . one of those two Public MSM outlets on the radio. I heard a new report about these 7 defecting Labor Party MoPs. The report claimed that one of them, who is Jewish herself, had to have personal security people assigned to her to protect her from the threat of anti-jewitic physical attacks.
Is that just a bunch of what Donald Trump would call Fake News? Or is there some kind of fact behind that report? Does anyone here know?
different clue
“new report” . . . ? “news report” obviously.
Phil Perspective
Hugh:
Yeah, Smith stepped in it big time. I haven’t heard if reporters asked the other 6 for comment about how they already shot themselves in the foot with her comments. It also comes on the heels of the British Tom Watson telling the local Labour groups to stop the deselection of Berger. One, Watson has no say in that. Two, it’s not a good look on Watson when you say that and then she bolts anyway.
Mooch
@different clue
She has suffered a lot of abuse from right-wing extremists, as far as I know there are no serious allegations against Labour party members or other left wingers. This is the classic propaganda technique of inverting reality; blaming the left wing for the actions of right wing nutjobs.
An interesting aside regarding her career is that she is a classic Blairite and was parachuted into a constituency where she has zero ties. She had close personal ties to the woman in charge of the selection process, who was married to the incumbent MP she was to replace.
One of the reasons they have not formed a party is so that they don\’t have to declare their funding. They are funelling their funding through a shell company called GEMINI A LTD which Shuker recently formed (details available at Companies House). Chukka Umunna is already infamous for doing this through think tank funding, and at least two of the others have expenses scandals in their past.
Their utility isn\’t in the actual electoral maths, but in the propaganda value. They are being paid to continue the media campaign / relentless drilling of the anti-semitism hoax, and if you glance at the milquetoast leftists of the Guardian comments you see they have a ready-made thoughtless meme to avoid voting for Corbyn.
John Poynton
Yes, different clue, she is not the first, though I forget offhand the names of the others.
On Brexit you may like my latest post on the Bruges Group blog at http://www.brugesgroup.com/blog/nissan-felixstowe-lettuces-and-whisky.
different clue
@Mooch,
Your comment lead me to another question . . . are all these “gone rogue” Labor MoPs just Blairites anyway who have been lying in the weeds awaiting their chance to re-Blairify the Labor Party?
@John Poynton,
I will have to read your link when I have a bigger timeblock to work with. Right now I have to get to work pretty soon.
Stirling S Newberry
1. It will give May the decision to call an election. The 8 will be wiped out unless they campaign hard.
2. Corbyn’s position on Brexit is a minority on Labour.
3. Expect more pull-outs like Honda. Which not a part of Brexit (in a pig’s eye.)
4. The immigrants that support NHS are “those dirty foreigners” to the people who use the services. No, it does not make sense.
5. The FinLon will be emptied of money. Good show both parties.
If you want a poor UK, May and Corbyn will do the job. Sweden and Germany works well inside the EU, why can’t the UK?
Mooch
Joan Ryan has just joined the brave and noble eight. She was on the Al Jazeera documentary ‘The Lobby’ accepting a cool million from the Israeli embassy.
Stirling S Newberry
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