Monday 18 July 2016

Lies of the Labour leadership contest 3: Corbyn undermined Lilian Greenwood

Lie 3:

Jeremy Corbyn undermined Lilian Greenwood, a member of his Shadow Cabinet.

Bollocks because:

Let's leave aside the irony of Blairites complaining about a leader sitting lightly to their front-bench. Let's give Greenwood the benefit of the doubt and assume that everything she is saying is true, sadly a dangerous assumption in the present climate.
This is bollocks because the job of a Labour Shadow Cabinet minister is to articulate the policy of the Labour Party. Where there is no such policy, front benchers can and should be able to contribute to the ongoing debate. What Greenwood means is that Corbyn has upset the norms of polite, cosy, parliamentary business as usual. He has offended worshippers at the shrine of collective cabinet government, and has dared to have ideas that haven't been cleared by a focus group.
In however partial and inadequate a way, this is a step towards Labour being transformed from a Westminster branded product to a mass democratic movement. That is why Corbyn must stay.


I refer readers to my earlier post on Lie 1 on other aspects of Greenwood's outburst.

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