Swimming through vomit

The debacle created by interim leader Harriet Harman on welfare has created Tory accusations of a split when we should have been putting clear red water between Labour and the Tories. Their vile attack on the poorest families and kids in the country is dog-whistle politics and all the more galling to allow the narrative to go on Tory territory as this is also an attack on the working poor – many thousands of UNISON members amongst them.

Piss ups and breweries spring to mind when a simple failure of the labour amendment would have been enough for the party to unitedly oppose these reforms based on being unable to support the bill un-amended – without the nonsense of asking for abstentions. Instead confusion ruled, Corbyn is being portrayed as a villain who created the split (utter nonsense but serves a purpose for Blairites and Tories to spin in this way) and we had just 48 MPs prepared to vote on the principles upon which they have been elected. This is the list of the Labour MPs who possess a pair.
http://labourlist.org/2015/07/48-mps-break-whip-to-vote-against-welfare-bill-full-list/

Quote of the debate goes to John McDonnell MP ‘I would swim through vomit to vote against this bill and listening to some of the nauseating speeches tonight I think we might have to’. Given the cowardice of some of his colleagues I propose that as their fitting punishment.

Anna Rose