The UK is leaving the European Union, and many are not happy with the leadership Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn showed throughout the campaign. Two Labour members of parliament, Dame Margaret Hodge and Ann Coffey, filed a no confidence motion against Corbyn, who Hodge feels was late coming “out of the stable” on the Brexit referendum and gave almost no direction as to what Labour could do to make their case to the British people. She said that Corbyn, like Cameron, should reflect on his role as leader and step aside, so that someone who has demonstrated leadership qualities can steer Labour to victory in the next election, especially after this referendum that is being viewed as a leap in the dark for Britain. Is a coup brewing? If so, it could be a bloody one (via BBC):
The motion has no formal constitutional force but calls for a discussion at their next PLP meeting on Monday.The chairman will decide whether it is debated. If accepted, a secret ballot of Labour MPs could be held on Tuesday.
By early Friday evening, seven other Labour MPs were on record as backing the motion.
Asked if he will resign, Mr Corbyn, who campaigned on the losing Remain side, said: "No, I'm carrying on.
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"It may be brutal, it may be bloody, but he has to go. We have no choice."
That's the view of a former Labour minister who's plotting to oust Jeremy Corbyn.
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Mr Corbyn's critics accused him of being half-hearted in calling for Labour voters to unite behind Remain.
Dame Margaret Hodge said Mr Corbyn should resign because the EU referendum had been a "test of leadership" that he had "failed".
This left Labour voters "not getting a clear message", she added.
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Labour MP Stephen Kinnock has also come out in support of the motion, accusing Mr Corbyn of a "lackluster [lackluster]" campaign.
Yet, the Labour Shadow Cabinet didn’t make any indication regarding supporting the no confidence measure. The BBC quoted that the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, John McDonnell, denounced the measure, saying Corbyn has a mandate to lead (which isn’t wrong) and that he would probably win a leadership challenge. Keep in mind McDonnell is a staunch Corbyn ally, who was one of 35 MPs, the minimum needed to nominate someone for leader, to nominate his far left friend to lead Labour after their disappointing showing in the 2015 general election. Still, there was considerable criticism of Corbyn in the aftermath of the Brexit vote. Corbyn still insists he did the best he could during the campaign, but he was heckled at London Pride for failing to get out the vote. Tom Mauchline, who was present at the event, tweeted his confrontation with Corbyn, where he blamed him for the Brexit result and asked when he's resigning as leader.
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I get so angry when politicians use the lgbtq+ community to protect their weak leadership pic.twitter.com/9YRVbbce2e
— Tom Mauchline (@TomMauchline) June 25, 2016
‘It’s your fault Jeremy! It’s your fault! When are you resigning? I had a Polish friend in tears because you couldn’t get out the vote in Wales, the North and the Midlands.’
McDonnell added that a general election could come within a year, given that he’s hedging that the new Conservative prime minister, whoever that may be, would want to govern with a mandate. If that’s the case, Labour should be making moves on booting Corbyn now since there are fears that Labour could suffer disaster in the next election post-Brexit (via Politico):
“If we vote Out can we finally get rid of Jeremy?” one exasperated Labour MP said as Brexit surged in the polls before the referendum.Throughout the campaign there had been outright fury with Corbyn. Polling showed 20 percent of Labour supporters did not know the party’s position.
Now it’s too late.
Labour now faces the very real possibility of fighting a fresh general election with the most left-wing leader it’s ever had. There is widespread panic that they could be wiped out across England, as they were in Scotland last year.
It could be a repeat of the 1983 general election, where left-winger Michael Foot led the Labour Party to disaster—and further entrenched Thatcherism in British politics.
Last Note: Despite the criticism, for now, it sounds like Corbyn's not going anywhere anytime soon.
Flashback: When Corbyn was laughed out of the room by Conservative MPs over his remarks about the EU referendum in February.
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