over at mikes silver
Heathrow expansion, which Corbyn opposes, and on which there is little consensus in any political party, could be a test for the new approach. It will fail, then [Image: Toby Melville/Reuters].
Heathrow expansion, which Corbyn opposes, and on which there is little consensus in any political party, could be a test for the new approach. It will fail, then [Image: Toby Melville/Reuters].
And they knew it.
The idea of holding a ballot on airport policy wasn’t pushed to a vote. And I think I know why.
These are the people who support continuity with the strategy that lost the last two general elections and the strategy that lost Scotland. They are unwilling to adapt to the way society has changed since 1997 (according to the Huffington Post, and I agree).
And now they are boneheadedly demanding the right to show how wrong they are on any number of topical issues?
I would have said: “Let them.”
All in all, they’ve had a lucky escape. I wonder if they’ll see it that way.
Labour backbenchers are preparing to call for a series of MPs’ ballots to signal their dissent from the party’s leadership on policy areas where they believe Jeremy Corbyn is out of step with mainstream public opinion.
Heathrow expansion, which Corbyn opposes, will be the test case for the new approach, which one critical backbencher called “constructively muscular”. If accepted, the proposal could see MPs openly defy the official position of their leader.
Gavin Shuker, chair of Labour’s backbench transport committee, plans to present a report supporting a third runway to Monday’s weekly meeting of the parliamentary Labour party (PLP), and call for a “votable motion” to gauge the views of MPs.
If the PLP chair, John Cryer, agrees to call a vote – as he did when a motion of no confidence in Corbyn was tabled in June – it would act as a strong public signal of Labour MPs’ stance.
Corbyn has said he will not try to whip his party to reject a new runway, but pro-Heathrow rebels believe the lack of an agreed party position will make Labour look weak. A source close to the leader’s office played down the significance of the Heathrow report being presented to the PLP meeting, stressing that MPs were likely to receive a free vote on the issue.
Some are pushing for the same approach to be used to bypass the shadow cabinet and constrain Corbyn’s room for manoeuvre on other contested issues, including the conflict in Syria and the … US assault to recapture the Iraqi city of Mosul from Islamic State.
Source: Labour MPs call for ballots to signal open dissent against Corbyn | Politics | The Guardian
Posted by jeffrey davies on 18 October 2016
