Opinion
A no-deal Brexit would be catastrophic - but I won't make Corbyn prime minister to stop it
In the six months since I quit Labour, nothing has happened to change my view he is unfit to lead, writes Joan Ryan
August 23, 2019 16:51
2 min read
In the six months since I quit Labour, nothing has happened to change my view he is unfit to lead, writes Joan Ryan
August 23, 2019 16:51I have long believed that Britain’s decision to leave the European Union was a huge mistake and that the no-deal Brexit threatened by Boris Johnson and the hard right of the Tory party would be disastrous.
Alongside many colleagues in Parliament, I will spend the next two months doing all I can to stop this massive, ideologically driven act of economic self-harm being inflicted upon the British people. Nobody voted for a no-deal Brexit in June 2016 and nobody should lose their job, home or business because the Tory party has decided to put its own interest above the national interest.
But there is one thing I will steadfastly refuse to do: support Jeremy Corbyn’s demand that Parliament install him as Prime Minister so that he can purportedly stop Brexit and allow a general election. I resigned as a Labour MP in February because I believed that Mr Corbyn is unfit to lead this country. Nothing that has happened over the past six months has led me to change my view.
My objections to the Labour leader becoming Prime Minister if Mr Johnson loses a no-confidence vote next month are threefold. First, the notion Mr Corbyn — a deeply divisive, highly sectarian figure — should lead a temporary government of national unity to rescue the country from the crisis the Tories have plunged it into is a dangerous nonsense. In the three years he has led the Labour Party, Mr Corbyn has split it asunder, provoking the biggest schism in the party in 30 years. Within its ranks, he has created an utterly toxic, hate-filled and repugnant culture and atmosphere.
Mr Corbyn simply does not have the character, empathy and sensitivity required to bring people from across the political spectrum — and, ultimately, the country — together.
Second, Mr Corbyn is a lifelong Brexiteer. He has no credibility on the European question and his opposition to a no-deal Brexit is purely tactical. John McDonnell’s suggestion that Mr Corbyn’s ultimatums to the other opposition parties are “non-negotiable” show how cynical the ploy he’s currently engaged in truly is.
Finally, and most importantly, I simply cannot accept that a man with Mr Corbyn’s record on antisemitism should be allowed anywhere near Downing Street.
He has made numerous antisemitic statements; indulged and spread vile conspiracy theories; and has associated with a motley bunch of Holocaust deniers and Jew-hating terrorists.
Over the past three years, Mr Corbyn has tarnished Labour’s once-proud record for fighting for equality and against racism in all its pernicious forms. He has presided over the party’s descent into institutional antisemitism.
And he has caused untold hurt and anxiety to the Jewish community.
Even if they were to be in No 10 for only a short period, the hard-left Stalinist clique which surrounds Mr Corbyn would exacerbate that hurt and anxiety; they would indulge their hateful obsession with Israel; and they would give comfort to the Jewish state’s many enemies in the region.
I cannot in good conscience use my position in Parliament to risk such a dangerous situation.
Nor will I abandon my solidarity with, and support for, Britain’s Jews by assisting Mr Corbyn into an office he should never be allowed to hold.
Rt Hon Joan Ryan MP is honorary president of Labour Friends of Israel
