Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves his home in north London before a "no-confidence" vote in Parliament today, which he lost. 28th June ©Rick Findler/PA Wire/Press Association Images
Read more: Jeremy Corbyn should become a martyr to his cause
Another day, another demonstration that Jeremy Corbyn has to resign as Labour leader. Over the past few days the Labour frontbench has resigned almost en masse. The resignations have come from the left and right of the party, from figures both well-known and obscure. All have said the same thing: that Corbyn cannot win an election. The Leader's response was defiant: he will not stand down, he has a mandate from the members. And he and his supporters have rallied the revolutionary left in their hundreds, for example at a rally in Parliament square last night, to bray their support and "prove" Corbyn's popularity.
One Labour grandee said to me "I am normally opposed to blood sports, but I made an exception for last night's meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party." Not a single speech was made in support of Corbyn at that meeting, not a single voice raised to oppose the many expressing no confidence in him. Now we know why: he has totally lost the support of the PLP. Today's vote of no confidence in Corbyn was passed by 172—40. The number in support of him is smaller than those who have recently agreed to serve on his newly appointed shadow front bench.
The mood of black farce deepened today when Corbyn acknowledged that he does not have enough support to fill a full front bench team. But his people defiantly reported to Sky's Darren McCaffrey:
"Jeremy is so determined to stay that if him and John [McDonnell] have to fill positions and turn up to Commons Qs in different roles they will."
It is like a farcical political version of novel
Beau Geste by PC Wren, where dead soldiers are leant against the parapets to pretend a greater strength than can be mustered. Of course, this is not funny. This is deadly serious: we are talking about Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. At all times a good opposition is extremely important: at a time of constitutional crisis it is vital.
Corbyn must go, but he has refused so far to accept that he has run out of road. When you cannot appoint a full team to work for you as leader then, in reality, you have no-one and nothing to lead. The Chief Whip, Rosie Winterton, and the Chair of the PLP, Jon Cryer, are meeting with the leader trying to persuade him to do the decent thing. On all recent evidence they will fail.
The upshot is that tomorrow a candidate will be announced who will challenge Corbyn for leader—most likely it will be either Deputy Leader Tom Watson or former Shadow Leader of the House Angela Eagle. There will then be an attempt to keep Corbyn off any ballot. If that fails there will be a brutal leadership election in which either Corbyn dies or the Labour Party does.
