Owen Jones calls out a Labour MP accused of ‘propping up’ the government

Split screen of Owen Jones and Kate Hoey


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Guardian columnist Owen Jones has called out Labour MP Kate Hoey for tweeting in defence of the Tories:

But it’s safe to say that this isn’t Hoey’s first offence.

Deal or no deal

Jones is referring to Hoey’s retweet of a Spectator article [paywall] with the headline Don’t blame the Tories for a Brexit ‘no deal’:

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In the piece, Spiked editor Brendan O’Neill blames [paywall] the EU for the threat of a ‘no deal Brexit’. (Note: He had previously praised Hoey and other ‘Brexit rebels’ in another Spectator article [paywall].)

Hoey clearly agrees with this stance:

O’Neill argues [paywall] that:

if the only deal that will be acceptable to the EU is one which goes against this vote for greater democratic control and keeps Britain beholden to EU rules and laws, then ‘no deal’ becomes more likely, and more attractive.

A mess of the Tories’ making

But people on social media are pointing out that, without the Tories, Britain wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place:

Meanwhile, others have questioned what the EU is supposed to do in response to this government’s farcical Brexit strategy:

Final warning

This is not the first time Hoey has sided with the government. On 17 July, she was one of four Labour MPs who voted with the government on a key Brexit trade bill. The government won the vote with an incredibly slender majority of six votes. No wonder Jones called her out then too:

And Hoey’s decision to prop up the government in its time of need means that some people blame her for the threat of a ‘no deal Brexit’:

True to form

Hoey is a Brexiteer with strong ties to other high-profile Brexiteers such as Arron Banks and Nigel Farage.

And her continual siding with far-right figures and defence of the Tories means that calls for her deselection are intensifying.

Wrong priorities

Hoey is entitled to her view on Brexit, of course:

Yet her actions are propping up this wretched Tory government, which has decimated Britain – overseeing huge rises in poverty and homelessness, cutting key public services, and creating a hostile environment for immigrants.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell says he has warned Hoey and the three other Labour rebels that:

the more they prop up this government, the more damage this government will do…

this government is reeling now and the longer this goes [on] the more damage it’s going to do to our country – leave aside party, this is damage to the country.

But Hoey clearly hasn’t heeded this warning.

Jones is right. She has no place within the Labour Party.

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