Monday, July 11, 2016
Cameron adds to the Labour leadership crisis
With Labour in the middle of an existential crisis the last thing they need is an opportunity for a further public argument and split. And yet that is what the David Cameron has dumped at their doorstep with his intention to finally hold the vote on renewing Trident on 18th July.
This is Cameron's last throw of the dice, an attempt to leave behind some sort of legacy. Whether committing the UK to a £20 billion nuclear missile system, which we don't need and cant afford, at a time of austerity and non-proliferation is questionable. However, in the Conservatives arming the country to the teeth counts as a legacy.
Labour will not be able to unite on this issue. Jeremy Corbyn has acknowledged as much. I suspect most of the Labour membership will back their leader on this. And once again the Labour MPs will be seen as out-of-touch with their activists and members.
If Corbyn is on the ballot paper in the forthcoming leadership contest I can see him winning it. If he is prevented from standing then goodness knows what will happen within Labour.
The MPs will be happy but they could then face a bigger threat in their own constituencies in a round of attempted deselections that will make the 1980s look like a picnic in the park.
This is Cameron's last throw of the dice, an attempt to leave behind some sort of legacy. Whether committing the UK to a £20 billion nuclear missile system, which we don't need and cant afford, at a time of austerity and non-proliferation is questionable. However, in the Conservatives arming the country to the teeth counts as a legacy.
Labour will not be able to unite on this issue. Jeremy Corbyn has acknowledged as much. I suspect most of the Labour membership will back their leader on this. And once again the Labour MPs will be seen as out-of-touch with their activists and members.
If Corbyn is on the ballot paper in the forthcoming leadership contest I can see him winning it. If he is prevented from standing then goodness knows what will happen within Labour.
The MPs will be happy but they could then face a bigger threat in their own constituencies in a round of attempted deselections that will make the 1980s look like a picnic in the park.
