Day of mayhem for Labour as EU vote plan fails, top aides row over tax, FIVE more MPs walk… and former shadow minister writes off their chances
Carnage overshadows launch of Jeremy Corbyn's election campaign ahead of the General Election
LABOUR endured a day of chaos yesterday as Jeremy Corbyn was forced to rule out a second EU referendum.
It came as a former shadow minister wrote off the party’s chances of winning the election.
Helen Goodman, Shadow Minister for Welfare Reform under Ed Miliband, said June 8 was about trying to make sure Theresa May did not win a thumping majority.
In an extraordinary admission, she said: “I don’t think that this election is about changing the Government.”
The crisis deepened for Labour as senior Shadow Cabinet figures disagreed over the party’s flagship tax policy and more than a dozen MPs were said to be stepping down.
Five quit yesterday, including Michael Dugher, former Shadow Transport Secretary and fierce Jeremy Corbyn critic, who stood down as MP for Barnsley East.
The carnage overshadowed the launch of Mr Corbyn’s election campaign, where he vowed to lead the “people against the powerful”.
Aping US President Donald Trump, he issued a blistering tirade against the “wealthy elite”.
This day of chaos shows how a weak coalition, led by a failed and bumbling Jeremy Corbyn, would put our nation’s future at risk
At the end of his central London launch, Mr Corbyn refused to rule out claims Labour would offer a second EU referendum in its manifesto on the terms of the Brexit deal.
Sources yesterday said Labour was preparing to offer the second vote in a desperate bid to stop voters deserting to the pro-EU Lib Dems.
An estimated 400,000 Brits are said to have so far left Labour for Tim Farron’s party.
But within hours he was finally forced to issue a denial as the Tories accused Labour of trying to disrupt Theresa May’s Brexit negotiations with EU chiefs.
They claimed it would threaten the PM’s negotiating hand as Brussels could offer a bad deal knowing the British public could send her back for fresh talks.
A Labour spokesman initially insisted the party’s position on Europe had not changed but two hours later said: “A second referendum is not our policy and won’t be in our manifesto.”
Theresa May last night crowed: “What we saw from Jeremy Corbyn this morning was his refusal to rule out the possibility of a second referendum over Brexit.
“That’s wrong. People voted in the referendum last year to leave the European Union. That’s what the Government needs to put in place.”
Yesterday Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry distanced herself from Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell’s vow to whack up taxes for anyone on more than £70,000.
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Ms Thornberry, slammed in November 2014 for sneering at white van man Dan Ware, admitted many of the 1.6million taxpayers pocketing more than £70,000 “may not feel rich”.
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Last night a senior Conservative source said: “This day of chaos shows how a weak coalition, led by a failed and bumbling Jeremy Corbyn, would put our nation’s future at risk.”
Mr Corbyn will today look to bounce back by attacking the Tories’ record on schools.
He will claim “kids are crammed in classrooms like sardines” with 40,000 primary school pupils in classes of more than 36 children.
Yesterday senior Labour figure Dawn Butler attacked Mrs May for calling the election, saying she was trying to “rig” democracy.
And last night Shadow Energy Secretary Barry Gardiner attacked Channel 4 for repeatedly asking if Labour would co-operate with the Greens in target seats to block the Tories.
As well as Mr Dugher, Fiona Mactaggart, the Labour MP for Slough, said she would not be contesting the upcoming election.
And David Anderson, Shadow Scottish Secretary, said he would be standing down as, at the age of 63, he felt he could not commit to five more years in Parliament.
Former Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham confirmed he was quitting in a bid to become the first elected Mayor of Greater Manchester.
Leader in campaign IRA gaffe
JEREMY Corbyn was accused of a first election gaffe as a campaign website repeated disastrous criticisms that he is “a terrorist sympathiser”.
The “I Like Corbyn, But...” site aims to tackle accusations against Labour’s leader.
It tries to answer statements such as “I’ve heard he is a terrorist sympathiser”.
But it makes no attempt to deny his close links with Irish republican bosses Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams when the fight against the IRA was at its height.
It was registered by Greg Dash, an adviser to campaign guru Andrew Gwynne.
Tories claimed it revealed Labour’s fears about Mr Corbyn’s past.
In a statement last night Mr Dugher said: “I have worked for the Labour movement for nearly all of the past 20 years.
"I have always tried to fight for a Labour Party that is in touch with working class people and one that can get into government so we can actually do something to help people.”
Andrew Smith also announced he would be going.
Two years ago, the MP for Oxford East provided the 35th vote required for Jeremy Corbyn to run in the party’s leadership election.
He said it would have been “indefensible” to leave Mr Corbyn off the ballot paper. He went on to support Yvette Cooper.