Evening Standard
London
Ken Livingstone yesterday escalated Labour’s deselection row by saying he would support challenging and possibly replacing an MP from his own party who voted for military action in Syria.
His words were immediately branded “disgraceful” by leading shadow cabinet member Andy Burnham. It came as a far-Left political party published a list of Labour MPs who backed air strikes under the banner “deselect them now”.
Over the last 24 hours some of the MPs have suffered a torrent of abuse at the hands of anti-war critics.
Asked what he thought about deselection calls, Livingstone told LBC: “If I had an MP who had voted to bomb Syria then I would be prepared to support someone who was challenging them, as long as they were good on the other issues.”
The former mayor of London and critic of military action, now co-convening a Labour defence review, claimed he had not complained when the Labour Right ran candidates against him in 1990. But shadow home secretary Burnham was incensed saying: “I think it’s a disgraceful thing to say on a day like today.”
Livingstone was further questioned on BBC news where he dismissed Burnham’s comments.
He said: “I support the right of those MPs who voted with the Tories last night to do so, if that’s what they believe. They can’t then deny to their own party members the right to vote for someone they agree with.” It came as the Left Unity group called on Labour members to deselect all of the MPs who backed air strikes.
In London 38 MPs supported sending the RAF to hit Islamic State targets, with some of them suffering vile abuse.
They included Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy, whose constituency has experienced a surge in activists. Left-wingers have also seized key posts in her local party. Twitter user Simon Mercer wrote: “Enjoy sleeping when the first child dies. Maybe you can keep one of their limbs as a souvenir? At least Walthamstow’s safe.”
Another Twitter user said: “Dumb ****. hope you get bottled in Walthamstow [sic].” Creasy took to Facebook to announce that she would be holding a meeting on Sunday to discuss her decision with constituents.
Some MPs were sent pictures of dead children. Labour’s Ann Coffey was dubbed a “warmonger” and a “Red Tory” in emails.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said there was “no place” for bullying in his party and called for members to behave in a “comradely” way. But Ilford North MP Wes Streeting said he had not gone far enough. He told BBC Radio: “I don’t believe that Jeremy Corbyn as an individual somehow encourages the bullying of Labour MPs. But I think at the moment he’s in danger of permitting it by not showing strong enough leadership, by not clamping down on this.”
Deputy leader Tom Watson said he would push for a stronger anti-bullying policy for party members.
An electrifying speech on Syria air strikes by the foreign affairs spokesman of Britain’s Labour party brought together rival MPs in an emotional display but shone a spotlight on the opposition’s deep divisions.
The house of commons fell silent as Hilary Benn implored MPs to approve the government’s plan for air strikes on Islamic State jihadists in Syria, to which his party leader Jeremy Corbyn is opposed.
“We are here faced by fascists,” he told lawmakers.
“They hold our values in contempt, they hold our belief in tolerance and decency in contempt, they hold our democracy in contempt.
“What we know about fascists is that they need to be defeated,” he said.
As the 62-year-old returned to his seat next to a grim-faced Corbyn, both sides of the house broke out into a rare round of applause with members shouting “more” and some even reduced to tears, according to Labour MP Angela Smith.
Conservative foreign secretary Philip Hammond called it “one of the truly great speeches” in parliamentary history, a view echoed by commentators and politicians of all stripes.
“It is about to become the house of commons ‘where were you when Kennedy was shot’ moment,” Labour-supporting journalist Dan Hodges wrote in the Daily Telegraph.
“It was a truly incredible moment. Hilary Benn did not look like the shadow foreign secretary. He did not look like the leader of the opposition. He looked like the prime minister.”
But Benn’s new-found authority poses a clear threat to Corbyn’s embattled leadership, an ironic twist given that Benn’s father Tony was both a political hero and close friend of the Labour chief.
Wednesday’s speech had striking similarities to one given in parliament by his socialist father the year after the Gulf War in 1991 -- except that Benn senior was mounting an impassioned plea against war.
Corbyn’s victory in September’s leadership race, thanks to support from grassroot activists, sparked a battle for control within Labour between his leftist allies and party moderates, who now have a figure to unite around.
“Hilary Benn offers hope to the party,” former policy strategist for ex-prime minister Tony Blair and moderate John McTernan told AFP.
The speech puts Benn “in pole position to be a future leader” of the party, added McTernan, a critic of Corbyn’s leadership.
“I’ve known him since he was an advisor, I wasn’t surprised but it’s great the country has seen what a potentially great leader he would make.”
