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Labour can never be led by an Iraq war supporter, Corbyn rally told Labour can never be led by an Iraq war supporter, Corbyn rally told
(35 minutes later)
The Labour party can never again be led by someone who voted for the Iraq war, a key ally of Jeremy Corbyn has told a rally in support of the Labour leader on Wednesday.The Labour party can never again be led by someone who voted for the Iraq war, a key ally of Jeremy Corbyn has told a rally in support of the Labour leader on Wednesday.
A minute’s silence for the dead from the Iraq war was held in advance of the rally organised in east London by Momentum, the organisation set up in the wake of Corbyn’s Labour leadership victory last year. A minute’s silence for the dead from the Iraq war was held in advance of the rally organised in east London by Momentum, the organisation set up in the wake of Corbyn’s Labour leadership victory last year. But speakers soon went on the offensive against MPs attempting to remove the current Labour leader, with many using the findings of the Chilcot report to bolster Corbyn’s position and take the fight to his critics in the party.
But speakers soon went on the offensive against MPs attempting to remove the current Labour leader, with many using the findings of the Chilcot report to bolster Corbyn’s position and hammer his critics in the party. In an apparent attack on the would-be Labour leadership challenger, Angela Eagle, the MP and shadow cabinet member Jon Trickett said: “Our party must never again be led by someone who is unrepentant in their record supporting war.” Speaker after speaker used the word “coup” to describe the pressure being put on Corbyn by Labour MPs.
In an apparent attack on the would-be Labour leadership challenger, Angela Eagle, the MP and shadow cabinet member Jon Trickett said: “Our party must never again be led by someone who is unrepentant in their record supporting war.” The founder of Momentum, Jon Lansman, said that it was a “strangulation strategy” that would fail, and predicted that Corbyn would win any leadership contest with an even bigger majority than last year.
Speaker after speaker used the word “coup” to describe the pressure being put on Corbyn by Labour MPs. “Peter Mandelson has been very busy. They didn’t wait for the referendum result. They were too busy reading their South American history, planning a coup,” he said. To cheers from the audience, Lansman said that he didn’t know if there would be a leadership election, “but we are prepared”.
The founder of Momentum, Jon Lansman, said that it was a “strangulation strategy” which would fail, and predicted that Corbyn would win any leadership contest with an even bigger majority than last year. He said Momentum was setting up phone banks and mobilising supporters using technology with help from those who were involved in the campaign for Bernie Sanders, who challenged Hillary Clinton for the Democratic party’s US presidential nomination. It was also raising funds on the ground, and planned to focus on the 100,000 people attending the Durham Miners’ Gala next week.
“Peter Mandelson has been very busy. They didn’t wait for the referendum result. They were too busy reading their South American history, planning a coup,” he said. Corbyn had been expected to attend the event, but instead addressed the gathering in a short video message, telling those present that his priority had to be to meet with families of those who died in the Iraq war. He said: “Today we dealt with Chilcot. We need a foreign policy based on democracy and human rights, That is what I was elected to deliver in this party. That is what we were elected to do to change the face of politics in Britain.”
To cheers from the audience, Lansman said that he didn’t know if there would be a leadership election, “but we are prepared”. Diane Abbott, the shadow health secretary, told those gathered that they should not let anyone tell them that MPs who voted for the war were not in possession of the full facts. “Don’t let anyone tell you that if they had known then what they know now they would not have voted for the war. It was all known then,” she said.
He said that Momentum was setting up phone banks and mobilising supporters using technology with help from those who were involved in the campaign by Bernie Sanders, who challenged Hillary Clinton for the Democratic party’s US presidential nomination. It was also raising funds on the ground, and planned to focus on the 100,000 people attending the Durham Miners’ Gala next week.
Corbyn had been billed to attend the event but instead addressed the gathering in a short video message, telling those present that his priority had to be to meet with families of those who died in the Iraq war.
Corbyn said: “Today we dealt with Chilcot. We need a foreign policy based on democracy and human rights, That is what I was elected to deliver in this party. That is what we were elected to do to change the face of politics in Britain.”
Diane Abbott, the shadow health secretary, told those gathered that they should not let anyone tell them that MPs who voted for the war were not in possession of the full facts.
“Don’t let anyone tell you that if they had known then what they know now they would not have voted for the war. It was all known then,” she said.