[ad_1]
Jeremy Corbyn’s top allies have unleashed a bitter attack on Sir Keir Starmer, claiming he should issue a “full-fledged apology” for backing a second Brexit referendum in the general election last December.
Leftist Ian Lavery, chairman of the party under Corbyn, and former shadow cabinet member Jon Trickett, both fired by Sir Keir when he became leader, claim that Labor’s Brexit policy was an electoral disaster.
His attack comes in a hard-hitting report on the Labor Party’s crushing electoral defeat, released on the eve of the election results for the party’s ruling national executive, which has seen a left-to-right battle for control of the party.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Corbyn’s allies have mostly been vocal in their criticism of Sir Keir since he became leader in April.
But since Corbyn’s suspension for his defiance of anti-Semitism last month, it appears they have removed their gloves.
“Labor has put themselves on the wrong side of the Brexit debate,” MPs say in their report, “Don’t Hold Back”, co-written with defeated former MP Laura Smith after talks with party activists and voters.
“People repeatedly claimed that Labor had become too southern and too middle-class. We don’t think Labor’s problems in the so-called ‘red wall’ areas started and ended with Brexit.
“Too often voters who dropped out were scorned and voters who remained were led down the garden path with a position, to overturn the referendum result, that was never really achievable.
“The people who had supported Remain were sold the falsehood that not only could the referendum result be overturned, but that all versions of Brexit were disastrous.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
“This speech was relentlessly pursued by high-level politicians even though there was never a realistic prospect of it happening.”
In a thinly veiled attack on Sir Keir, who was a shadow Brexit secretary under Corbyn and the architect of the party’s Brexit policy in the election campaign, MPs argue: “Some should have known better.
“They were right in the middle of the Corbyn project and said they were agnostic on the question of leaving or staying without establishing a credible position based on that. In the end, however, they joined the pressure to turn Labor into a Stay in Position. fully aware of the consequences. “
And the left trio is demanding: “A full apology from Labor to the people for ignoring the democratic principle that the labor movement has fought for centuries and treating both sides of the debate with contempt.”
“Our argument is that the leading elements of the Labor Party took us too far in one direction: away from our working-class base and towards a more metropolitan middle class.
“In other words, away from the communities that reliably voted Labor for generations, to a more mobile cohort that treats political support as choosing a branded product. It’s a dangerous strategy.”
:: Listen to Sophy Ridge Sunday on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker
MPs add: “We would like to offer some camaraderie advice to the new leader. First of all, he must not bury his role in Brexit under the rug. It will come back to bite him and the Labor Party. Building trust is essential.
“Second, to get the workers back, you need to listen. The focus groups only tell you what you want to hear.
“If you would listen, you would hear some of the things we have heard from workers, as we have carried out the largest listening project between members and unionists since the elections across the country.”
And in defense of Corbyn, widely criticized for discouraging voters in elections, MPs argue: “Some say Jeremy Corbyn himself was a problem at the door.
“It is true that Jeremy’s leadership style was unique and as such created an opportunity for media experts to seek him out repeatedly.
“The issue of smear campaigns in the media against Jeremy Corbyn came up a lot in our discussions.
“Issues surrounding his perceived lack of patriotism, which focused primarily on not singing the national anthem, were central to these criticisms.”
