As Swinson goes MIA, Corbyn proves he’s Leader of the Opposition in both name and nature
On 31 August, thousands of people took to the streets across Britain to oppose Boris Johnson’s parliamentary coup. And while Liberal Democrat attention-seeker Jo Swinson was missing in action, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn stood proudly on the front line of the protests.
Where’s Swinson?
Swinson recently claimed that Corbyn had taken a holiday during the 2016 Brexit referendum. That was a lie. (Note: Corbyn was also a much more prominent campaigner in the referendum than any Lib Dem politician.) Yet now, despite things hotting up in parliament and the streets, Swinson herself was nowhere to be seen.
Swinson has long tried to portray her party as leading the fight against a potentially devastating no-deal Brexit. But she has been focusing much of her efforts on attacking Corbyn and lying about him in recent weeks. In particular, it seems she wants to torpedo Corbyn’s plan to lead a temporary government to stop a no-deal Brexit. This is despite around 70% of Lib Dems preferring his plan, and numerous Tory MPs pledging their support.
The Lib Dem press office denied to The Canary that Swinson is currently on holiday. But amid mass protests, people across the UK were asking where she was. And that doesn’t help to change the widespread perception that, far from leading the fight against a no-deal Brexit, Swinson sees opposing Corbyn as more of a priority.
Corbyn on the front line
Meanwhile, with Swinson all but silent and Johnson’s government continuing to threaten Britain’s fragile democracy, Corbyn stood up. Hitting the streets of Glasgow on 31 August, he spoke out against Johnson’s “smash and grab raid against our democracy”. He also insisted that:
[Johnson’s] agenda, and the no-deal Brexit, is an agenda of him running into the arms of Donald Trump… selling off our NHS to American corporations, and destroying the working rights, the consumer rights, and the environmental protections we’ve gained through membership of the EU – fought for by trade unions and environmental groups all over the continent.
And he had a simple message for Johnson, stressing:
Read on...
Support us and go ad-freeit’s our parliament, no way do you take us out [of the EU] without a deal. We will stop you, and give the people their right and their say to determine their future.
We will stop Boris Johnson's smash and grab raid on democracy – and give people their say to determine our future.#DefendOurDemocracy pic.twitter.com/k2LPe6V62l
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) August 31, 2019
The media, as always, in their London bubble…
Johnson’s coup is not an issue just for London. It’s a problem that the whole of the UK needs to face head on. But some apparently expected Corbyn not to reflect that, and to stay in London instead:
Channel 4 News said Jeremy Corbyn did not attend the demos. Here is Jeremy Corbyn, today, at a demo in Glasgow. Only little auld Scotland. Not amazing London. True. But still a demo pic.twitter.com/Km2QVmSYac
— Tory Fibs (@ToryFibs) August 31, 2019
. @Channel4News have said @jeremycorbyn didn’t attend today’s demonstrations. Here he is in Glasgow.
But we know the rules for the London media – the rest of the country doesn’t exist #SwitchItOff pic.twitter.com/CNDXzFtuxB
— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) August 31, 2019
Protesters filled George Square in central Glasgow to hear speeches from public figures including Jeremy Corbyn and yet your reporter said he was nowhere to be seen. Doesn't Scotland count anymore then?
— Redcountessa #IStandwithChrisWilliamson (@Redcountessa) August 31, 2019
Jeremy Corbyn was speaking at the equivalent demo in Glasgow. People in London really do need to stop imagining they are the only ones doing politics. https://t.co/U4x7rx9MPN
— Adam Ramsay (@AdamRamsay) August 31, 2019
To all the London based #FBPE types asking where Jeremy Corbyn is, the answer is Glasgow. It's a major city in Scotland for those of you unfamiliar with British geography outside the M25. Which, let's face it, is most of you.
Christ. You people.https://t.co/WKs34vdz72
— GOU Limiting Factor (@Sleeper_Service) August 31, 2019
In fact, the location of Corbyn’s speech was particularly apt. Because it’s Swinson’s home turf; she reportedly comes “from a suburb of Glasgow”, and her East Dunbartonshire constituency is “a leafy suburban area outwith the Glasgow municipal boundaries”. So Corbyn’s presence in Glasgow actually helped to highlight Swinson’s absence even more.
I see Jeremy Corbyn managed to make the 400 mile trip from Islington to Glasgow to attend the biggest Scottish #StopTheCoup demo whereas Jo Swinson couldn't even manage the 10 miles from East Dunbartonshire. Or indeed, to attend any demo at all.#NoDealLibDems
— GOU Limiting Factor (@Sleeper_Service) September 1, 2019
Opposition leader in both name and nature
Corbyn leads the biggest opposition party (by far) in parliament. Labour is also the UK’s biggest party, with over 500,000 members. That’s despite constant lies and smears from the political and media establishment.
But ‘leader of the opposition’ isn’t just a title. It’s a mindset. And by consistently standing alongside ordinary people up and down the country, his actions shout ‘leadership’ louder than any elitist poser ever could.
Featured image via screenshot
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All a bit late in the day. Where was Corbyn on the People’s March 6 months ago?
He’s been dragged kicking and screaming as his ratings plummet even lower despite the most dangerous right wing government in history. Well done Jeremy in putting the morally bankrupt Johnson in such an impregnable position.
Don’t you mean The Brexit March organized by The People’s Vote on 23rd March 2019?
More fake news eh? I haven’t seen a single article, or any news showing Jeremy Corbyn being dragged ‘kicking and screaming’ anywhere, nor anything showing his ratings dropping. I have seen Julian Assange being dragged kicking and screaming however, maybe you got the two confused?
Also, how do you equate Corbyn as being responsible for Johnson? You show no evidence, nothing in fact to support your outlandish conspiracy theory.
Seems to me you are either a troll, or most likely an anti-Corbyn Luddite, intent on destroying Corbyn’s life-long reputation as a peacemaker, and literally our only chance to prevent us from becoming little USA in Toto.
You chose to single out Jeremy Corbyn, arguably the only person in UK politics with a proper plan to get us out of the mess the criminal Tories created, and you acknowledge that Johnson is morally bankrupt, so what is your position? You seem to be both anti-Corbyn and Johnson, but pro Tory. Why attack Corbyn and not May? Why is it Corbyn’s fault Johnson is in power? If you make allegations like that, be prepared to back them with FACTS, not just your opinions.
We are all entitled to our opinions, but NOT our own facts.
The people protesting now despise people who had call to protest in the past, calling them workshy, Trots, commies, who are trying to bring the country down, stop the trains running, ruining their holiday breaks, holding the country to ransom etc etc. They didn’t protest when the Tories began Aktion T4 against the disabled and neither did the EU stop it–on the contrary, they paid huge sums to wealthy British landowners while doing nothing to protect British workers rights.
Interesting opinion, but completely devoid of any facts whatsoever.
Interesting because you again attack the EU for something the UK is more to blame for.
How do you equate the EU as being responsible for what our Government is fully aware of, and supportive of? Our government actually wanted those payments to go towards wealthy British Landowners, or we wouldn’t have lobbied for it, or accepted the payments.
Sure the EU has corruption in it, but we are part of the EU, and that means if we call them corrupt, so are we. However, the EU is a red herring, because it is AMERICA that is the greatest (by far) threat to our Nation (abd The World), not the EU. The EU isn’t trying to turn us into ‘little America’, although it has always tried to make us be more co-operative within the EU, something we have not been that great at doing despite agreeing to be part of the EU in the first place. We have certainly pushed our weight around Europe too, it’s not all one-sided as you imply.
Your blaming of the EU for not standing up to the UK when the criminal Tories began to murder our disabled people by ‘other means’, when our country has long resisted the EU on many issues, particularly our Sovereignty, is misplaced blame.
Also, let’s be very clear here, it was David Cameron who allowed ATOS (A French data management company who were already banned from operating in the USA due to illegal behaviour over there) to ignore our own UK Doctors’ diagnoses here.
I am pretty sure that our supposedly greatest ally ever didn’t kick up a fuss either, and THEY at least banned ATOS from operating there, so why didn’t The USA stick its oar into our business, and support our disabled then either? They certainly seem happy to poke their noses into all our other business?
You need to get some balance, you can’t blame the EU for something that was OUR country’s sovereign decision. You don’t actually know for certain that the EU didn’t protest at least privately to #10, but chose not to go public due to it being a British Sovereign issue.
Sure, The Tories and David Cameron have blood on their hands … the blood of our own people, but if you are going to keep on blaming the EU for things that are squarely OUR fault, then you clearly show that you have no real interest in facts, and instead are more concerned that the EU be blamed for everything.
Give credit where credit is due, and by all means discredit those that actually deserve it, but don’t give credit to those who are the real criminals, whilst shifting blame where it does not belong.
The people protesting now are what? Do you know all of them? You seem to be saying that you know what every current protester has claimed about previous protesters? Are you a god? Mind-reader? or perhaps you are a Professor Xavier type person with your mind connected to every person on Earth? You don’t half make some sweeping statements.