FAILED LABOUR LEADERSHIP contender Owen Smith MP has reminded us how uninspiring he was as a candidate – and what a lacklustre Labour Leader he would have made.
As the candidate chosen by Labour’s right wing to mount an “anyone but Corbyn” campaign, he charmed no one – speaking to rallies of tens of people while Corbyn spoke to thousands.
When Corbyn chalked up his second convincing victory, he magnanimously offered Smith a place in the Shadow Cabinet – which Owen Smith accepted, becoming Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary.
So far, so OK, all right, then – until this week, when Smith thought it would be a good idea to call for a second referendum on Brexit. Labour Party policy is NOT to call for a second referendum – because it looks anti-democratic.
Calling for a second referendum looks like “we don’t accept the result and we want the voters to think again.” No one has ever called for a second referendum on the basis of “yes, I agree we should leave the EU – and I want the British people to show that they are really behind leaving so we can get a double confirmation.” It is not surprising, therefore, that Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party have adopted a policy of “the voters have decided, let’s respect that decision and look at the issues.”
The obvious problem with him speaking out about it is that the Shadow Cabinet is supposed to show collective responsibility (just as the Cabinet shows collective responsibility). He wasn’t just mentioning a casual view of his own that there should be a second referendum, he was actively undermining Labour Party policy – just as the Party headed for the May elections across the country.
Owen Smith says he has long believed that there should be a second referendum, and it is unfair that Jeremy Corbyn should try to silence him. However, it was obvious that Corbyn would have to react to his provocative statement. Why did Smith speak out now?
First, Smith is again being pushed forward by the Labour right, which is desperately trying to regroup and find a niche for itself after Corbyn’s two convincing victories. The best way for the right to advance is for the Corbyn-led Labour Party to do badly in the May elections – so the right will try to bring that about by undermining Corbyn so the media will portray Labour as a divided Party.
This was underlined when Lord Hain (formerly Peter Hain) and Labour MPs Chuka Umunna and Anna Turley all spoke out in support of Smith’s supposed right to express a minority view from the front benches
Second, Labour has all but finished selecting parliamentary candidates in its marginal seats and will soon move on to selecting in safe seats. Many of the right fear being deselected – despite the many times Corbyn has insisted there will be no centrally led purge.
Some of the right wing have given up on Labour and still believe their only future is with a new, overtly social democratic, middle of the road Party. They want to speak out now and court being deselected so that they can set this up. Many of them want to join with Tony Blair – who has a bit of time on his hands now he is no longer pretending to bring peace to the Middle East, and a bit of cash to splash.
The election season opens in earnest on Monday: then the gloves will really be off.
•Read more about it: Owen Smith in “too many immigrants” furore Owen Smith finally overtakes “no nomination”
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