Tom Watson’s latest anti-Labour scheme proves he’s an ‘utterly craven opportunist’

Tom Watson and Jo Swinson
Fréa Lockley


Labour deputy leader Tom Watson really needs to wind his neck in. His latest anti-Labour alliance with Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson proves beyond doubt that he truly is an “utterly craven opportunist”. At such a crucial point in UK politics, Watson’s more dangerous by the day.

Desperate

On 13 August, Swinson proudly announced that she and Watson were “united”:

 

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As the Guardian reported, Watson claimed it’s time to ignore party lines to stop Boris Johnson forcing a no-deal Brexit. He said:

Everyone who cares about democracy, our country and our future must work together because there are enough of us – from all parties in parliament – to stop him.

Sorry, what? This latest diatribe stands in direct contradiction to Watson’s words in 2016. At the time he said:

The Lib Dems are desperately, openly, shamelessly trying to recover some sort of electoral relevance by coming out as Brexit deniers…

I can see why it’s attractive to Tim Farron [then Lib Dem leader], as the leader of a party on 8%, to want to be the party of the 48%…

Unlike the Lib Dem Brexit deniers, we believe in respecting the decision of the British people. To do any less is to fail to respect the British people themselves.

Fast forward three years, and Watson’s now thrown Labour under a bus. Not only that, he’s jumped into the driving seat of that same bus with Swinson’s Lib Dems. Novara Media‘s Aaron Bastani suggested that Watson’s latest alliance proves he’s “an utterly craven opportunist”:

Many people also challenged the Guardian‘s role in reporting Watson and Swinson’s meeting. It continually puffs Watson in order to undermine Corbyn:

Corbyn’s Labour has consistently opposed no-deal. Yet the Guardian and other establishment media continually ignore Labour’s actual Brexit plan:

A “duplicitous toad”

Watson’s latest treachery doesn’t stop there. Because Swinson’s ruled out any possibility of a coalition government with Corbyn. So this alliance is very problematic:

And we shouldn’t ever forget Swinson’s role as one of the cheerleaders of Coalition-led austerity.

She consistently voted to reduce welfare and benefits, including cutting payments for people with illnesses or disabilities. She also voted to cut the Educational Maintenance Allowance for 16-to-19-year-olds. And she helped to raise university tuition fees, despite promising not to as one of the key policies that helped elect many Lib Dem MPs in 2010. Her track record on environmental issues, meanwhile, shows she supported the badger cull, fracking, and HS2.

Not surprisingly, Watson’s come in for huge criticism:

The centrists are rising in force at a time when we need a Corbyn-led government more than ever. So let’s hope Watson’s latest treachery is his undoing. Because the stakes are simply too high for him to do any more damage with his duplicity.

Featured image via YouTube – Sky News / Flickr – Liberal Democrats

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    1. Tom Watson’s and Jo Swinson’s apparent chumminess is about stopping Brexit. That’s all. One wonders if those anti-Watsonians railing against Watson aren’t themselves Remainers as well – but, are so riled up about Watson as Labour’s bogeyman, which he is, that their shared Remainiacal credentials go by the wayside in order that Tom Watson is reviled for his undermining of Mr Corbyn which he’s clearly engaged in. Me? I’m a Labour BeLeaver through and through. I leave you to guess who and what I rail at, am riled about, and who I revile for their efforts to overturn the democracy of the 2016 EU Referendum.

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