Labour hopes to paper over Brexit splits for united front

Britain’s Labour Party kicked off its annual conference hoping to prove it is ready to unseat the Tories despite its own splits.

Jeremy Corbyn speaks to supporters in Liverpool on Saturday. Picture: AFP

Britain’s Labour Party kicked off its annual conference last night hoping to prove it is ready to unseat the embattled Conservative government despite its own splits on Brexit and rows over anti-Semitism.

Leader Jeremy Corbyn has a golden opportunity to capitalise on Prime Minister Theresa May’s weakness after EU leaders rejected her Brexit plans on Thursday.

However, he must first ensure his party’s internal tensions take a back seat to bolster his image as a prime minister-in-waiting.

“The sheer levels of animosity that exists between Corbyn and his opponents is quite remarkable,” Anand Menon, political professor at King’s College London said ahead of the four-day in conference in Liverpool.

Brexit is one of the fault lines, dividing even allies. Most Labour MPs and Mr Corbyn’s younger supporters are in favour of the EU, but many voters in the party’s working-class heartlands back Brexit.

Mr Corbyn has so far tried to avoid the divisive subject, instead sticking to promoting a domestic social agenda that helped him upset the odds at last year’s general election and strip Mrs May of her majority. But with Brexit negotiations due to come to a climax before the end of the year, party members look set to force a debate and a vote on the conference floor pushing for a second referendum, something Mr Corbyn has said he is against.

“The big controversial thing would be … whether Labour commits itself to a second referendum … because Corbyn has been trying to keep as ambiguous as possible,” said Steven Fielding, professor at University of Nottingham.

Another issue hampering Mr Corbyn’s designs on power is the anti-Semitism row that has dogged the party since he took over in 2015. He has admitted the party had a “real problem” with the issue, leading veteran MP Frank Field to quit last month. Mr Field said the leadership was becoming “a force for anti-Semitism in British politics”.

The National Executive Committee, Labour’s ruling body, agreed this month to adopt an international definition of anti-Semitism for its code of conduct, but only after fierce opposition from members who believe it will limit criticism of Israel.

“If they want this conference to work they are going to have to deal with anti-Semitism, rather than pretending that they have dealt with it already,” Professor Menon said.

Labour’s polling numbers are relatively stable, although the chaos in the Tory party could mask any impact of the scandal. The anti-Semitism row continues to reverberate in the party.

“There is a lot of resentment, a lot of bitterness which I don’t think will be very easily dispelled and there may be some Labour MPs who eventually leave on the basis of anti-Semitism issues,” Professor Fielding said.

The row has deepened the divisions between Mr Corbyn’s far-left supporters and the more centrist faction of MPs who held power in the party after Tony Blair took charge in 1994.

Centrist MPs are battling for their political lives in the face of attempts by Corbyn supporters to de-select them. “The leadership might try and persuade Momentum activists not to make it a central plank of conference but the language is getting very, very abrasive,” Professor Menon said.

AFP