Mandelson’s mixed message on Brexit is designed to confuse, not help
If it’s not good for Britain, send the government back to the negotiating table,’ says Lord Mandelson [Image: Jeff Overs/BBC/PA].
This Writer is left wondering what his message was. Does he want Labour to oppose Brexit, as his former boss Tony Blair advocated in the pig’s-ear of a speech he gave last week?
Or does he want the House of Lords to modify the Article 50 Bill to make it easier for Parliamentarians to demand a better result from negotiations with the EU?
His comment that the Tory government could be defeated in the Lords over a meaningful Parliamentary vote at the end of negotiations – and guaranteed rights for EU citizens in the UK – suggests the latter.
But he also said pro-EU politicians need to show more courage in opposing Brexit, and urged the public to donate in support of Tony Blair’s call for an uprising against leaving the bloc.
That is hardly a demonstration of strength, clarity and sureness of touch.
And surely it hasn’t escaped anybody’s notice that any confusion in Labour’s position has been caused by MPs who prefer Blairism to Corbynism? It is Lord Mandelson’s side of Labour that is creating the party’s problems.
His performance on the Marr Show will undoubtedly make matters worse.
The Writer was out on the doorstep yesterday, campaigning ahead of the May council elections here in Wales, and while the response was mostly positive, a couple of people turned me away because they believe Labour is “hopeless at the moment”.
That is the work of Mr Blair, Lord Mandelson, and their acolytes in the Parliamentary Labour Party.
Jeremy Corbyn’s policy positions are perfectly clear – but how many Vox Political readers can say what they are without becoming confused because of interference from offstage whisperers like Lord Mandelson?
And who is giving these agitators a platform? The mass media, of course.
A pro-Tory BBC just loves handing airtime to critics of the Labour Party.
So the solution to the problems raised by Lord Mandelson is clear: Stop Lord Mandelson and his ilk from creating these problems on mass media TV talk shows.
Source: Pro-EU politicians must show courage to oppose Brexit, says Mandelson | Politics | The Guardian
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Another has been dragged out of obscurity to push the BBC’s pro eu agenda then.
Are you trying to become a fake news factory all by yourself?
Why are we still listening to all the Blairites?
Mandelson & Blair what a double act they were. Both eventually showing their true loyalty to their own personal wealth rather than delivering the true Labour message. A less likely pair to be now trusted on anything after their past political performances. I think their own self interests are still in the forefront of their unwelcome return. Please gentlemen go back to your nursing homes, zimmer frames and counting your money you had your turn at the steering wheel and what a fine mess you made of it..
Mandelson is as crafty as a barrow load of sparrows. Looking like an Oxford don, he uses words that are essentially without meaning. PR speak at its most inane.