Emily Thornberry, Labour’s shadow Foreign Secretary, has accounted for the party’s dismal performance in the European elections by suggesting that Labour candidates had been badly let down by the party leaderships’ current refusal to explicitly support a second EU referendum.
Thornberry’s comments could be seen as one of many clear challenges to the Labour leaderships authority as this is not the officially-approved Brexit policy.
Following Labour’s decimation and loss of MEPs across the United Kingdom, with particularly heavy defeats in traditional Labour areas such as Scotland, Wales, London and Sheffield, Labour’s official Brexit policy is still that a second referendum should only be a last resort in order to prevent a no deal situation.
Thornberry stated as the results came in – “These are really bad results for Labour. I think we’re going to get a kicking. We should have said quite simply that any deal that comes out of this government should be put to a confirmatory referendum”.
Such opinions, at odds with the official stance further increase confusion amongst Labour mp’s, the public and Europe over whether a change of government or indeed a second referendum will bring a resolution of this Brexit situation. Whilst the rest of the government remains in a state of paralysis there is a concern that many of the important issues facing the UK remain unresolved.
In response Jeremy Corbyn launched a ferocious attack on the Tory Brexit strategy in an attempt to shield himself from criticism over lack of clarity over policy – making statements and then hinting at a rethink of Labour Brexit policy.
At this point nods and winks do not seem to be enough to satisfy the other parties or the electorate. It seems the Brexit party are the only party with a coherent message but we will soon have a new Conservative leader which many hope will garner a resolution.
This all comes as The Equality and Human Rights Commission has launched a formal investigation into the Labour Party over allegations of anti-Semitism. The watchdog told the party in March it had received a number of complaints and was looking into launching an investigation.
It has now been confirmed that they will now formally look into whether Labour has “unlawfully discriminated against, harassed or victimised people because they are Jewish”.
Labour’s shadow equalities minister, Dawn Butler has said they will fully take part in any investigation:
“The Labour Party at its heart and core is an anti-racist party… so I see this as a way of ensuring, with the scrutiny of the EHRC, that the Labour Party’s rules and policies are robust and fair.”
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Current Affairs Correspondent | My name is Oliver Down I am 22, and a staunch brexiteer. I am a Bristolian lad who studied politics in Leicester. I believe in free speech and accurate journalism and I won’t be afraid to give you “the other side” of the story!
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