[ad_1]
Moderate MPs are hoping a no-confidence vote will help MPs feel safe in expressing their anger at the party’s leadership.
According to the Sunday Times, they hope the vote will give MPs the chance to see they are not alone in their frustrations and will give them the confidence to then quit the party and form a breakaway.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said he is “worried and saddened” at the prospect of a split in Labour.
Mr McDonnell told the New Statesman: “Yes, I think there are people who are willing to leave the party.
“I think I’m saddened by that. I really am saddened and I’m disappointed.”
The plan to undermine the Labour leader is understood to have originated from MPs’ frustration at Mr Corbyn’s failure to tackle accusations of anti-Semitism within the party.
In July, Labour refused to back to full definition of anti-Semitism as set out by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, causing outrage among party members.
Since then dozens of allegations of anti-Semitism have plague Labour.
Referring to concerns over anti-Semitism, Brexit and MPs’ careers, Mr McDonnell said: “If those are the issues that people want to split on, these are all issues which can be dealt with within the party.
“And I don’t see them as fundamental issues that would encourage a split because there are opportunities for people not just to express their views but actually sometimes to win the argument as well.
“So, I don’t understand why there is this sort of pre-emptive move to split off.”
On Thursday veteran Labour MP Frank Fields resigned the Labour whip, after accusing the leadership of presiding over a party which is becoming a “force for anti-Semitism”.
Following his decision, Ilford South MP Mike Gapes, who has served for 26 years, also threatened to quit.
Speaking out against the culture within Labour under Mr Corbyn, Mr Gapes said: “I am agonising every day about the situation and the state of the Labour Party.
“I will make my own decision about how I deal with this in my own time.”
MPs last triggered a no-confidence vote against Mr Corbyn after the June 2016 EU referendum.
On that occasion the left-wing leader brushed aside a 172 to 40 defeat, insisting his mandate from grassroots members was more important.
In a plea to those considering quitting the party, Mr McDonnell said: “I think that open door is always there to prevent that happening, because any split is automatically damaging.”
[ad_2]
