Tag Archives: Chuka Umunna

True (blue) colours: Lib Dems betray their voters by supporting “no deal” Brexit

Brexiteers-in-chief: Jo Swinson and Boris Johnson. And you all thought Ms Swinson would do anything to keep the UK in the EU.

So he should be. This is what happens when you elect a Tory-supporting quisling to be leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has written a letter to the leaders of opposition parties including the SNP, Lib Dems, and Plaid Cymru, along with prominent Conservatives who oppose Boris Johnson’s “no-deal” Brexit.

In it, he proposes that they support his plan for an early vote of “no confidence” in September, allowing him to set up a short-term government to block Brexit under the terms preferred by Mr Johnson and call a general election.

And the Liberal Democrats under Jo Swinson have rejected it, for unsupportable reasons. This is a betrayal of everybody who voted for them in the belief that they oppose Brexit.

Here’s Mr Corbyn’s letter:

And here’s the Liberal Democrat reply, as given by Chuka Umunna on the BBC’s Newsnight. I doubt anyone would disagree with Liam Young’s comment now:

“And there you have it from the chameleons mouth,” wrote Rachael Swindon on Twitter. “The Lib Dims would rather a Boris Johnson No Deal Brexit and a hard-right Government than a temporary Corbyn-led Government to seek an extension to Article 50 and a general election. Unforgivable.”

She later added: “I know we used to laugh about the Lib Dims preferring a No Deal Brexit and a Johnson Government to a Corbyn-led Government. Surely they’re not *that* silly? Tonight, live on Newsnight, the Lib Dims just died.”

Mr Umunna, of course, has a vested interest in putting off any general election; he would instantly lose his seat in the House of Commons to a Labour candidate.

Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson, who supported the Tories throughout the Coalition government and seems determined to support them now, is quoted by Politics Home as saying: “Jeremy Corbyn is not the person who is going to be able to build an even temporary majority in the House of Commons for this task – I would expect there are people in his own party and indeed the necessary Conservative backbenchers who would be unwilling to support him. It is a nonsense.”

Ms Swinson added: “This letter is just more red lines that are about him and his position and is not a serious attempt to find the right solution and build a consensus to stop a no-deal Brexit.”

This is building castles in the air. Ms Swinson does not know the way the Commons’ 639 (voting) MPs will go, of a “no confidence” vote is put before them. She is simply trying to protect Boris Johnson.

Labour MP Emma Hardy put it succinctly: “Lib Dems siding with the Tories instead of Labour. Same old, same old. Yellow Tories.”

The SNP has been much more pragmatic. Consider its response, also on Newsnight:

Here are the simple facts:

And this is the dilemma for people like the Lib Dems (and the Change UK mob, whatever they’re calling themselves now):

Yes indeed – and the Lib Dems’ priorities will be plain to see, as a result of Mr Corbyn’s letter:

As Owen Jones stated: “Labour won 40% of the vote two years ago, nearly the same vote share as the government; its leader is twice elected. A temporary government should be led by the politician with the biggest democratic mandate. Do you oppose Corbyn as PM more than No Deal? Really?”

It should be worth reminding you that, if a “no deal” Brexit happens, the next thing Mr Johnson will do is sell off the NHS and abandon your rights as workers and as human beings, along with your consumer rights and environmental protections, in a trade deal with the United States that won’t bring any improvement to the UK economy for 15 long years, if at all. That is what Jo Swinson, Chuka Umunna and the other Liberal DemocRats are supporting.

Do you support that?

If not, you’d better do something about it.

I would suggest contacting your MP at your earliest opportunity and telling them you want them to support Mr Corbyn’s proposal – in the national interest.

You may need to contact them more than once as some MPs may be reluctant to change their own position. Make it clear that this is a matter on which they may lose their job in the future, if they don’t do the right thing.

Or would you rather sit this one out and let your country drift further into fascism?

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Chuka Umunna announces end of his political career – he’s joined the Lib Dems

Yellow: Chuma Umunna.

The MP who said he wouldn’t be seen dead in a yellow rosette has joined the Liberal Democrats.

This is the second change of party affiliation for Chuka Umunna within six months, as the former Labour MP for Streatham continues his quest to find a political party that can accommodate his personal ambition.

The simple fact is: He won’t find one.

This latest flirtation with the Lib Dems is happening because he saw them doing well in the European Parliament elections and thought they must be enjoying a revival; they aren’t.

The brief bounce happened because the Lib Dems positioned themselves as the ‘Party of Remain’ in elections that weren’t about Brexit at all, but which were presented as such to fool the voters.

People don’t live in ‘Remain’ or ‘Leave’ constituencies – they vote for the party whose policies reflect their own thinking, as Labour’s win in Peterborough demonstrates.

And Mr Umunna, once touted as a possible future head of the Labour Party, back in its New Labour days, will end his career as nothing more than a footnote.

Source: Chuka Umunna joins Lib Dems: ‘No room for two in centre ground’ | Politics | The Guardian

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Is Umunna really planning to stand for the Lib Dems in his SAFE LABOUR constituency?

Just when the Liberal Democrats thought they were electable again, Chuka Umunna looks set to join them.

That’ll mess things up. According to the Mail – so an unreliable source – he wants to represent the Party of Remain in Streatham, his current constituency, which has a “safe” Labour seat but voted very strongly to remain in the EU in 2016.

In the spirit of giving news stories all the space they deserve… that is all.

Source: MP Chuka Umunna is to stand for Liberal Democrats in his safe Labour South London constituency  | Daily Mail Online

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All change at Change UK as opportunists quit in search of someone who’ll vote for them

And then there was one: Anna Soubry, centre, is the new leader of Change UK, while former leader Heidi Allen (left) and Sarah Wollaston (right) have quit the party like rats leaving the proverbial sinking ship.

Six of Change UK’s MPs have quit the party after it failed to make an impression at the European Parliamentary elections.

It speaks volumes about the party that its principal defectors were its former leader, Heidi Allen, and spokesman Chuka Umunna.

Both have been talking up the prospect of an alliance with the Liberal Democrats – who, conversely, fared exceptionally well at the elections.

While they haven’t actually joined the Lib Dems yet, it seems a safe bet that they will.

Also out of CHUK are Gavin Shuker, Luciana Berger, Angela Smith and Sarah Wollaston.

You can smell the desperation, can’t you?

These people left their respective parties in the belief that their personal brands were more popular than those of the parties they were leaving.

They were wrong – even the three who left the Conservatives.

Now, it seems to This Writer, the six quitters – double-quitters, if you think about it – are looking for another way to keep themselves in Parliament.

With the Liberal Democrats apparently on the rise again thanks to their stance as the “Party of Remain”, it seems they look like good prospects.

I’d say “watch this space”, but in the case of Change UK it is only likely to grow more empty.

Source: Change UK loses six of its 11 MPs after dire EU elections result | Politics | The Guardian

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Umunna walks in; Corbyn walks out – of a PARTY LEADERS’ meeting, not one of company executives

“I’ll get my coat”: Jeremy Corbyn walked out of a meeting of party leaders when Chuka Umunna and Anna Soubry, who are representatives of a private company calling itself The Independent Group, attended.

Malcontents in the mainstream media are making much of the fact that Theresa May held a meeting of UK political party leaders at around 6pm today (March 20) – and Jeremy Corbyn walked out when Chuka Umunna and Anna Soubry walked in.

The simple fact is that neither Mr Umunna nor Ms Soubry are party leaders, so they had no right to be at such a meeting. They are representatives of a commercial organisation masquerading as a political entity, nothing more.

Mr Corbyn was right to leave. One has to question Mrs May’s intentions in inviting the Independent Group representatives. She knew Mr Corbyn had called for a meeting earlier in the day but she managed to find a way to renege on it.

She really is despicable, isn’t she? No wonder Twitter is full of posts under the #MayMustGo hashtag.

The storm unfolded on Twitter – but not in the way the Establishment and MSM creeps wanted:

Mrs May was due to make a statement in Downing Street – and members of the public were all over that, too:

https://twitter.com/JoanSmi54744685/status/1108422932534046720

https://twitter.com/tommurrays/status/1108453946862026753

POSTSCRIPT, 8.42pm: Theresa May has just made her statement and it contained absolutely nothing but vitriol against Parliament for frustrating her in her bid to get her duff deal passed, and a claim that she knows what people want. They want her to resign. She let them down again.

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Twitter user distils TINGe political pitch into 20 hilarious tweets. Which is YOUR fave?

Chuka Umunna: What is he for? Apparently if you read his pamphlet you won’t be any the wiser.

I can’t guarantee it’ll be the best thing you’ll read all weekend, as Skwawkbox implies.

But the distillation of Chuka Umunna’s 20,000-word pamphlet on how he sees the progressive approach to politics into 20 pithy tweets by Richard James certainly deserves as wide an audience as possible.

Let’s hope enough people see it to seal the doom of The INdependent Group of elitists once and for all.

If you’re wondering which tweet was my favourite, it’s the one that says: “People should stop cheeking their political and social betters on Twitter. It really is not on.”

What’s yours?

Source: Take-down of Tinge-group political pitch is probably best thing you’ll read this weekend | The SKWAWKBOX

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‘Independent Group’ MPs face demands for by-elections in their constituencies

Challenge: Luciana Berger speaking at the launch of the Independent Group. Within hours the Labour Party in her Wavertree constituency had challenged her to prove she deserves to continue as MP for the constituency by taking part in a by-election.

February 18 was a big day for the “Maleficent Seven” Labour MPs who quit to form their own “Independent Group” in Parliament – and now they are facing demands for by-elections in their constituencies.

Local Labour members who helped Chuka Umunna, Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker, Angela Smith, Luciana Berger, Mike Gapes and Ann Coffey say they were elected into Parliament on a Labour manifesto but the people of those constituencies no longer have representatives who support that manifesto. They say voters are entitled to choose whether they want to keep the MPs they have, or elect someone who means it when they say they support Labour ideals.

All in all, it was hardly an auspicious start for the group, whose members intended to use their split from Labour to highlight alleged faults in the party they were leaving.

We very soon had ample evidence that the schism was hardly prompted by recent events – the group’s website was registered in 2015… in a tax haven abroad.

The headquarters of this Brexit-opposing organisation is above a Wetherspoons pub – an organisation that supports Brexit – called, appropriately, The Unicorn.

And it turns out that this political organisation is nothing of the sort – it is in fact a company called Gemini A Ltd. This allows it to take advantage of a legal loophole that means Gemini A Ltd does not have to declare the identity of its financial backers. We don’t know who is funding these MPs.

Within hours of the new group being announced, Ms Smith had plunged it into a racism row with ill-judged remarks on the BBC’s Politics Live.

And now all seven are facing challenges to justify their claims on their Parliamentary seats.

See for yourself:

(For those who have trouble reading images, the tweet from Wavertree CLP says: “We are extremely disappointed that Luciana Berger has made the decision to resign from the Labour Party. 35,000 people in Wavertree voted for the Labour Manifesto in 2017, yet they are no longer represented by a Labour MP. We call on Luciana Berger to immediately resign the seat, to give the people of Wavertree the opportunity to decide who represents them in Parliament.”)

It seems this new organisation is built on lies and broken promises. That is a poor platform from which to demand the trust of the people.

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MPs split off from the Labour Party. Voters say ‘Good riddance!’

Chuka Umunna: Good riddance.

A group of seven MPs has split off from the Labour Party – to gasps of relief across the United Kingdom.

The reaction is probably not what they wanted.

The group includes Chuka Umunna, Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker and Angela Smith as expected.

Joining them are Luciana Berger – quitting before her Liverpool Wavertree CLP pushes through the “no confidence” vote that members have been readying? – along with Mike Gapes and Ann Coffey.

The group has released a statement but it seems its website is having teething problems – odd since it has been registered since 2015 – and I can’t really be bothered unless Vox Political readers are genuinely interested. Are you?

It’s much more fun to highlight the public response, which is primarily relief. The flood of comments yesterday (Sunday, February 18) when rumours spread that the split would happen today, speaks for itself. Some thought this was another publicity stunt and they would not go through with it:

Others pointed out the qualities of the expected splitters and the likely tensions between them:

The prevailing mood – especially in the case of Mr Umunna, was clear:

And some posted wish lists of other Labour members they would like to see split off – for a very obvious reason:

Mr Jeffery will be pleased to see Ms Berger and Mr Gapes among the splitters. Mr Gapes is also on Matt Zarb-Cousins’s list:

Speculation on what the “Independent Group” would represent has been overwhelmingly negative towards them:

And the departure will provoke comparisons with the “Gang of Four” who formed the SDP in 1981. That decision led to the formation of the Liberal Democrats, a party that apparently killed itself off as a national political organisation by forming a coalition with the Conservatives between 2010 and 2015. Here’s Martin O’Neill:

As ever, Tony Benn called it correctly – 38 years ago.

Last word goes to Liam Young:

Damn straight – good riddance.

MPs from both sides of the Commons in talks about new party. Jumping before they’re pushed?

Chuka Umunna and Anna Soubry: Party on?

Don’t let the headline get your hopes up. Chuka Umunna was supposed to be quitting Labour last Thursday and didn’t have the guts.

Michael Rosen mocked him brilliantly on Twitter:

Still, Mr Umunna may well be thinking about announcing that it’s possible he could consider something along those lines again at some point in the future.

Also involved in discussions about forming a new party, we’re told, is Chris Leslie – who has been castigated in a letter by representatives of his Nottingham East Constituency Labour Party.

“We believe that the views expressed in your most recent email to constituents are likely to damage the reputation and electoral prospects of our party and give the impression that you are doubtful that a Labour government would be the best outcome for Britain,” they wrote. “This email crossed a line and we believe it is unacceptable for a sitting Labour MP to attack the party in this manner.”

The letter also stated: “You are happy to attack the party leadership, other Labour MPs and party members; giving the impression that our party is divided as we approach the local council elections in May and a possible general election.

“The support you give constituents and party members in Nottingham East is well below that of other local Labour MPs… Members and residents are much more likely to have seen you attacking the party and its leadership than representing the views of local residents.”

Draw your own conclusions. While the MPs already mentioned, together with Gavin Shuker who lost a vote of “no confidence” in his own CLP last year, and Angela Smith might say they are frustrated with pro-Brexit policies and issues over anti-Semitism, their real reasons for wanting to take their allegiances elsewhere seem clear.

So the right-wing newspapers are full of rumours that these people will help set up a new “centrist” (read: neoliberal) party alongside Conservatives (possibly Anna Soubry) and Liberal Democrats who may be desperate for public interest after their five-year dalliance with the Tories.

Intense discussions are taking place at Westminster that could lead to the emergence of a new centrist party consisting of six or more disaffected anti-Brexit Labour MPs along with the involvement of some Conservatives and the backing of the Liberal Democrats.

Apparently some of the ringleaders have lobbied backbench colleagues they thought were sympathetic, with an invitation to join in. It seems Clive Lewis was among them – and here’s his response:

The message – to the Labour MPs implicated, at least, is clear: If you want to go, push off.

Sadly it seems this is the very attitude that is keeping them where they aren’t wanted.

Bullies in the Labour Party… are those who lied about Wavertree CLP’s ‘no confidence’ votes on Berger

Luciana Berger: “No confidence” motions against her were about her attempts to undermine the Labour leadership. Why is the Labour leadership trying to defend her?

Labour’s leadership shot itself in the foot yet again at the end of a disastrous week for relations between the executive and rank-and-file members.

Earlier in the week, general secretary Jennie Formby’s refusal to suspend Wes Streeting and investigate his behaviour after he launched a despicable attack on a 70-year-old female member, using faked evidence and publicising her true identity which she keeps hidden, put her in hot water – with members telling her in no uncertain terms that the complaints system was not fit for purpose, prioritising representatives over the people who put them there.

Then Wavertree CLP cancelled two ‘no confidence’ votes about the behaviour of that constituency’s MP, Luciana Berger. The first was withdrawn by its proposer, and the second by the CLP itself after it emerged that the member proposing the motion will be out of the UK on the day planned for the debate. This Writer’s understanding is that both motions referred to the actions of the MP, whose false claims of anti-Semitism within the party have caused deep offence.

Yet some within the party hierarchy have made reference to abuse that the MP receives (Ms Formby), to the fact that she is eight months pregnant (Harriet Harman – and what does that have to do with anything?)…

… and to racism/anti-Semitism within the CLP (Tom Watson – who should know that it has a large Jewish contingent and is chaired by a Jewish person; Wes Streeting (again) – who accused the people of Liverpool of being anti-Semitic en masse in yet another ill-advised tweet;

https://twitter.com/LabLeftVoice/status/1094269171867754496

…and Chuka Umunna).

The attempted bullying by the members named above incensed party members across the UK – many of whom are now threatening to burn their membership cards in protest at what they see as clearly prejudicial behaviour – in favour of MPs who are spreading lies, and against members who are the victims of those lies.

Mr Watson’s comments in particular – as a non-Jew potentially implying the “wrong kind of Jew” argument against Jewish party members – disgraced the Labour Party. Wavertree CLP’s executive has released a statement to “strongly reject the media inaccuracies and the accusations of political bullying, for simply adhering to Party rules and doing our jobs” and asserting that “the suggestion that the CLP Executive is in any way a party to bullying and antisemitism is a false and slanderous accusation”.

And Mr Streeting’s tweet – following Ms Formby’s call for no more “trial by Twitter”, this indicates he believes she was lecturing rank-and-file members, not him – will undoubtedly have led to more calls for his Labour membership to be suspended and an investigation into his behaviour held. See this article for further details.

Ordinary Labour Party members took offence at the glib way so-called leaders of the party tried to pretend that the “no confidence” motion was an attack on Ms Berger as a person, rather than as a representative of the party. Ms Formby came in for particularly strong criticism. See:

Donahue Rogers tweeted: “Gen Sec should not be voicing an opinion about this – especially as you’re asking members to show solidarity with someone who refuses to show support for a Labour government and also refuses to dismiss rumours that she is about to join another party ”

Here’s the ever-controversial George Galloway – with an opinion that, for once, wasn’t:

It was an error of judgement, especially as it allowed party members to compare support for an MP who consistently undermines her party with the lack of it for the MP who has endured more abuse than all the others put together. As “Audrey” put it: “I didn’t see that many ppl falling over each other publicly to defend Diane when she is abused permanently even by tv journos. Guess some ppl are just not worth standing in solidarity with…Planning to do something about Watson or aren’t the members worthy of solidarity either?”

Albert Trigg also took issue with Ms Formby’s claim that party members should stand in solidarity with Ms Berger: “‘Solidarity’? The same kind of solidarity she shows Corbyn and the membership? She could not even bring herself to say she wanted a Corbyn Government. Abuse is wrong but it works both ways. False accusations of racism from Labour MPs is not on.”

Consider these:

Carla Marx added: “More disappointing responses from our leaders. This isn’t enough from Jennie. The online abuse has nothing to with Wavertree activists – they have a perfect right to hold their MP to account for her signal lack of respect to them and the Party she’s meant to represent.”

Some suggested that the Labour leadership had lost focus and needed to concentrate on the real troublemakers in the party:

https://twitter.com/reperioverum/status/1094279887957970944

Ms Berger has already called for a “no confidence” vote in the Wavertree CLP executive in what can clearly be recognised as a piece of “tit-for-tat” vindictiveness:

Labour’s national leadership has already confirmed that there will be no action taken against Wavertree.

Then came the threats to quit:

Fortunately other members took a more rounded view: “There is a greater need than us,” tweeted Teri_Card007. “The 14 million in poverty, 1.5 million in destitution, 330,000 homeless and the disabled who are dying every month because of Tory policy. We stand together, support each other. Labour is Socialist and there are many of us and they’re the few.”

Here are a few more such opinions:

Perhaps the best reflection of the way Labour members feel came from a former 2017 general election candidate going under the handle @DisIdealist, who wrote: “Where members tend to draw the line, in my experience, is when a representative is seen as both politically unsympathetic and not helping to obtain a Labour government. If an MP ever crosses a line to be seen as actively helping to prevent a Labour government, then members will almost always move against them. If one looks at those Labour MPs who have faced motions of no confidence – and it is a relatively small number – one finds that it is inevitably the case that they not only have serious political differences with the leadership, but they are seen by members as making a Labour government less likely through their public provision of ammunition to the hostile media and the Tories.”

That is the real spirit of Labour. Not the fake-Tory divide-and-rule we’re seeing from the likes of Berger, Harman, Watson, Streeting, Umunna (always the same names, aren’t they?) and (I’m sorry to say) Formby.

But those are just six voices – loud voices, maybe, but not many – among more than half a million. They want to deceive the rest into thinking that their few voices matter more than those of the rest of us – and they hope that their lies will convince people of good conscience to quit the party, so they can have their cosy little club back; never challenging the Tories enough to make a difference, just making sure they take their ministerial salaries home.

To the mass of Labour members: Don’t let them win. Force the issue. Make them defend themselves – and prove that they can’t.

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