As many as eight members of the shadow cabinet are considering declaring that they cannot serve on if Jeremy Corbyn is elected as Labour leader.
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In this article, (against which
incidentally, the Guardian does not provide the reader with a
"comments" section in which to reply), the Guardian make
great play on a new faction of the Labour party which it calls
"refuseniks", echoing the days of Soviet Russia where the
label was an " unofficial term for individuals, typically but
not exclusively Soviet Jews, who were denied permission to emigrate
by the authorities of the former Soviet Union and other countries of
the Eastern bloc". The comparison may have some significance for
the editorial board of the Guardian, but it certainly escapes me.
However the Guardian, who you will
recall nailed its colours to the mast of Yvette Cooper relatively
early in the leadership campaign, when it seemed that only she or
Andy Burnham would emerge as the winner, mentions a number of names
amongst the "up to eight shadow cabinet ministers" who may
refuse to serve with Jeremy Corbyn.
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Over the past few weeks, since it
became a clear possibility that Corbyn may win, the Guardian, along
with the much of the other media and television outlets, has engaged
in an unsavoury campaign of smear and scaremongering to discredit
Corbyn and those who support him. Even now, just some 30 hours before
the Ballot closes, a story appears which, not very subtly suggest
that anyone yet to vote, should in fact vote for another candidate,
preferably Yvette Cooper, in order to “maintain unity”. Even with
the thinly veiled appeal to vote “anyone but Corbyn” the article
is riddled with qualifications like “up to eight” or “other
possible refuseniks” or “are considering” which indicates that
the piece is more like a last ditch attempt to throw in another bit
of a scare in order to assist their candidate. Ironically, it seems
that it is the Corbyn camp which is more concerned with maintaining
“unity” than the usual suspects from the Labour party
“establishment” and their supporters in the media. Apparently,
unity is a one way street which is the objective only achieved when
all comply with the instructions of the political establishment
within the party.
The ballot closes at 12noon tomorrow.
It will be interesting to see the slant that the Guardian throws out
of its front page in the morning edition.
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