Blairites attempt to oust Jeremy Corbyn, fail miserably. [View all]
Its dizzying to keep up with the drama of British politics in the post-Brexit era as resignations and elections seem to never-endingly roll in. Hell, in a matter of weeks the United Kingdom has somehow already been saddled with a new conservative, and lets not forget, unelected Prime Minister. Now the Brexiteers have had their day, including the downtrodden former London mayor Boris Johnson, and conservatives in both the Tory and Labour parties want to continue with neoliberal austerity as usual.
Unfortunately for them, however, one man has marvelously weathered the storm of betrayals and right-wing plots, and that man is none other than Jeremy Corbyn.
The Labour Party leader came under fire after the European Union Referendum and has been the center of whats being called a chicken coup within his own party. After facing a no confidence vote, it became clear that while Corbyn still had overwhelming support from unions, grassroots movements and the Labour Party membership, his actual colleagues wanted him out.
The architects of the coup gave a number of reasons for their attempt to rid the party of Corbyn, ranging from what they deemed his lackluster support for the Remain campaign in the lead-up to the referendum to the belief that he couldnt win a general election if one was called in the following months. On the left some suspected it could be due to the planned release of the Chilcot Report which would paint the Labour Party, Tony Blair and the MPs who voted for the Iraq War in a negative light, especially given that Corbyn planned to apologize for the war on behalf of his party.
So far, however, it seems his enemies did not count on the progressive leaders resilience in the face of adversity. On Monday, MP Angela Eagle, who, among other things, voted for the Iraq War and was involved in the mass resignations in Corbyns shadow cabinet, launched her campaign to contest Corbyns leadership. Yet, just as she did so, her own constituents decided to set up a no-confidence vote as many continue to publicly support the current leader of the party.
Then on Wednesday, after much debate over whether or not the Labour Party rules would allow Corbyn to be on the leadership contest ballot without obtaining the 51 nominations from within the party required for contenders, the National Executive Committee voted 18-14 to keep the leader on the ballot. ................(more)
http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/jeremy_corbyn_wins_another_battle_war_against_labour_party_leader_20160713