Labour needs another Corbynista leader like a hole in the head, warns ex-Foreign Secretary Jack Straw
EX-LABOUR bigwig Jack Straw yesterday warned the party needs another Corbynista leader “like a hole in the head”.
His blistering attack is a take-down of Rebecca Long-Bailey, who launched her leadership bid with a vow to carry on Jeremy Corbyn’s “socialist agenda”.
In astonishing comments, Ms Long-Bailey gave Mr Corbyn “ten out of ten” for his leadership – even though he led the party to its worst defeat since 1935.
She told ITV News: “I’d give him ten out of ten because I respect him and I supported him all the way through.”
Her comments sparked outrage among Labour moderates.
One Labour MP told The Sun: “Ten out of ten? How about minus 59 - the number of MPs we lost?
“What an insult to millions of people who felt let down by Jeremy Corbyn.
“How can she change the Labour Party to win again, if she can’t change the script written by a loser?”
In a savage demolition, Mr Straw warned the Labour Party would be signing its own “suicide note” if it goes for another hard-left leader.
LABOUR'S 'SUICIDE NOTE'
The former Foreign Secretary fumed: “One thing I am absolutely clear on – the Labour Party needs a true, loyal successor to Jeremy Corbyn like it needs a hole in the head.
“If it goes for somebody who says he or she is the continuity candidate - that is signing a collective suicide note.
“We have tried that. We have had four and a half dismal years of this far left experiment, of not compromising with the electorate, and very authoritarian situation inside the Labour party, coupled with this vile anti-Semitism which Corbyn didn’t want to do anything about.
“Continuity would be the last thing the party needs or wants. It could collapse if it is looking at a continuity candidate.”
His incendiary attack will be seen as aimed squarely at Ms Long-Bailey, who finally announced she was throwing her hat into the ring with a fiery pitch to Corbyn loyalists.
She defended Mr Corbyn saying he was the “right man” with the “right ideas”, and repeated his election vow to “wage war” on the establishment.
Just 24 hours after the starting gun was fired on the party contest, the gloves came off as Ms Long Bailey savaged her rival Keir Starmer’s Brexit policy.
She blasted Labour’s “triangulated” Brexit stance, which she said bombed with Leavers and Remainers.
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And she said voters were left “confused” by their muddled policy.
She fumed: “We did spend an inordinate amount of time on those parliamentary manoeuvrings, making sure that we were taking No Deal off the table.
“And we took our eye off the ball in developing our argument within our communities.”
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