Labour must end this “middle class affectation with protest” to get back in power, says Neil Coyle.
The outspoken Bermondsey and Old Southwark MP responded to Jeremy Corbyn’s New Year message with a few thoughts of his own.
Corbyn’s New Year’s Eve message only alluded to the election, as the Labour leader described 2019 as “quite the year” and said his party was now “the resistance” to Boris Johnson.
Coyle has been a vocal critic of Corbyn since quitting his shadow cabinet and has continued to lobby him to step down as leader sooner rather than later after Labour’s disastrous election performance last month.
“We would be better able to resist Johnson if Corbyn hadn’t just reduced our representation to the lowest levels since before the French resistance existed,” he replied.
“If Corbyn had resisted antisemitism with any energy we may also have done better.
“If his team hadn’t ignored 100,000 members leaving we may have been better able to resist the Tories in the election.
“If Corbyn’s advisors had acted sooner perhaps the split in the party, with over a dozen MPs quitting, might have been prevented.
“We are barely a resistance the longer Corbyn continues.
“New leadership must end this middle class affectation with protest and rebuild a party able to get back in government and transform people’s lives.”