Apparently Corbyn’s now to blame for May’s utter carnage

Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May


Support us and go ad-free

Theresa May has thrown the UK into total constitutional crisis, and legged it. In her absence, opposition parties, labour centrists, and much of the UK media has turned on Jeremy Corbyn. Apparently – if you believe the establishment media – May’s mess is now his fault. Because instead of all headlines focusing on the crumbling Conservatives and May, it’s a perfect opportunity to blame Corbyn.

May’s mess

On 10 December, May ‘deferred‘ the meaningful vote on her Brexit deal and headed to Europe to renegotiate a deal she said couldn’t be changed. It turns out – for once – that she was actually telling the truth. Because on 11 December, EU president Jean-Claude Juncker said it couldn’t be changed either.

As an emergency debate went ahead in the Commons, Corbyn pretty much nailed it and called the whole situation “an abject mess”:

Related articles

Read on...

But far from rallying around this, too many people had already jumped on the bandwagon to insist that Corbyn should support a vote of no confidence in May. And so, inevitably, the focus shifted from May to Corbyn.

As one person on Twitter commented, too many forgot that the “real story is May’s cowardice and her crap deal”:

With ‘friends’ like this…

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, the SNP’s Ian Blackford, Lib Dem leader Vince Cable, and Plaid Cymru’s Liz Saville Roberts sent a letter to Corbyn insisting he supports a no-confidence vote in the prime minister. Next thing we know, Tory MP Anna Soubry is bigging up arch anti-Corbyn Labour MP Margaret Beckett:

Beckett once said she was a “moron” for nominating Corbyn as Labour leader.

Then, Cable stuck his oar fully into the mix:

The alliance pushed Corbyn to back a no-confidence vote and trigger a people’s vote on Brexit. Many, including Lucas, are passionate in their commitment to this option:

But this conflicts with current Labour policy. Corbyn is currently trying to force a general election, get the Tories out, and then negotiate Brexit “with all options on the table”, including a second vote if needed. Many Labour MPs don’t think this is the right time for a no-confidence vote:

Meanwhile, Labour chair Ian Lavery clearly explained that not only would it fail, it would also strengthen the Tories:

But the mainstream media isn’t reporting on this.

‘Corbyn’s to blame’

Not surprisingly, it didn’t take long for this press conference to jump into the headlines. Suddenly, rather than insisting May sorts her crap out, all eyes are on Corbyn. Predictably, the Mail reported that “Corbyn is accused of IGNORING 50 Labour MPs’ demands”. Meanwhile, the BBC played its (allegedly) impartial card:

And many outlets joined in:

On a day of such total crisis and chaos, many people aren’t surprised that May’s mess is now somehow Corbyn’s fault:

There’s a good chance this chaos could lead to a successful vote of no confidence in May and the entire vile Tory government. But it seems the time for this isn’t right now – which is exactly what Corbyn has said.

The most important thing to remember, however, is that the architect of all this shit is May and the Tories. And no one should let them off the hook for that.

Featured images via Rwendland/Wikimedia and Tiocfaidh ár lá 1916/Flickr

We know everyone is suffering under the Tories - but the Canary is a vital weapon in our fight back, and we need your support

The Canary Workers’ Co-op knows life is hard. The Tories are waging a class war against us we’re all having to fight. But like trade unions and community organising, truly independent working-class media is a vital weapon in our armoury.

The Canary doesn’t have the budget of the corporate media. In fact, our income is over 1,000 times less than the Guardian’s. What we do have is a radical agenda that disrupts power and amplifies marginalised communities. But we can only do this with our readers’ support.

So please, help us continue to spread messages of resistance and hope. Even the smallest donation would mean the world to us.

Support us
  • Show Comments

    2. Jeremy Corbyn is not even Prime Minister yet he is scruntinized more then any sitting Prime Minister in history it seems. And the Labour parliamentary party and establishment, the Greens, Plaid, SNP, and Liberal-Democrats need to get it through their thick heads that the overwhelmingly amount of UK citizens mainly England and Wales voted to the leave the EU, Anne Sourby herself a majority of Tory voters support leaving the EU which means leaving the single market and customs union. This foolish idea of another referendum that the Greens championed and I’m more of a Green supporter then Labour, but this idea of another referendum is dangerous and is playing with a fire that need not happen. Time for the left in the UK to embrace Lexit, and look at the policies they can pursue now that the EU won’t block it, and get behind it instead of this tribal politics that’s happening in which rejecting this current deal will see a no deal Brexit scenario.

      Report comment

    Leave a Reply

    Join the conversation

    Please read our comment moderation policy here.

Related articles