British election: Jeremy Corbyn dismisses fears of Labour defeat

Jeremy Corbyn will take his message to voters in defiance of dozens of Labour MPs who fear the party will lose.

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. Picture: AFP

Jeremy Corbyn will take his message to voters in defiance of dozens of Labour MPs who fear the party will fail to win the election.

The Labour leader declared “it’s going to be fun” after he told his shadow cabinet that he had made up his mind to back an election, finally giving Boris Johnson a decisive majority behind his push for a December poll.

Mr Corbyn had ordered his MPs to abstain on an early election vote on Monday night, denying the Prime Minister an election on December 12.

Thirty-eight of his MPs went further and voted against it.

But on Wednesday, Australia time, Mr Corbyn threw his weight behind the general election and is now set to face his second in just over four years as leader.

Despite party whips being understood to have warned this month that more than half of ­Labour MPs could vote against an election, only 11 did in the final Commons stage of the bill.

They included Dame Margaret Beckett, the former foreign secretary, and Owen Smith, who challenged Mr Corbyn for the leadership in 2016. However, 104 Labour MPs abstained.

The Labour leader met little ­resistance on Wednesday when he told the shadow cabinet of his change of heart. “It was a fait ­accompli,” one source said.

“There would have been no point questioning it.”

There had been a franker conversation in Monday’s shadow cabinet meeting, at which Lesley Laird, the shadow Scottish secretary, is understood to have warned of the struggle the party faced in holding its seven Scottish seats.

Party sources said the leadership had realised that an election was set to be triggered with support from the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party and so decided to embrace it.

“We’ve always said we wanted an election,” Mr Corbyn said. “We’ve now had confirmation from all 28 EU member states that no-deal is off the table so we’re going to go out there with the biggest campaign this party has mounted: totally united, totally determined and I’m absolutely looking forward to going to every part of this country with my wonderful shadow cabinet team and all the fantastic Labour activists to give a message of hope, where there isn’t one with this government.”

In the Commons Mr Corbyn tested messages, returning twice to “real change”. “It is time for real change,” he said, later vowing: “We will now launch the most ­ambitious, radical campaign for real change in this country.”

A Labour attempt to change polling day to December 9 failed but Mr Corbyn had made clear in advance that he would back a ­December 12 poll.

“Whatever date the house ­decides the election will be, I’m ready for it — we’re ready for it,” he said. “Because we want to be able to say to the people of this country, there is an alternative to austerity, there is an alternative to inequality, there is an alternative to sweetheart trade deals with ­Donald Trump — there is an alternative of a government that ­invests in all parts of the country, a government that’s determined to end injustice in our society, and a government that’s determined to give our young people a sense of hope in our society rather than the prospect of indebtedness and ­insecure employment in the ­future.”

The fractures in Mr Corbyn’s party were evident almost as soon as he began speaking. Paul Farrelly, the retiring Labour MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, intervened, telling MPs: “I shall be voting against an early election today and encourage as many of my colleagues as possible to defy the threats and blandishments, and to do so as well. The uncertainty about the outcome of a general election means that, in reality, no-deal has certainly not been taken off the table.”

Mr Corbyn replied: “I hope my friend will join in the campaign to defeat this government.”

Darren Jones, the Labour MP for Bristol North West, who is standing again, tweeted: “I might be a lone voice but I’m willing to be drowned out on a point of principle: I want the chance to vote on a legally binding vote on a People’s Vote before an election. Until I have that chance, win or lose it, I’m not supporting an election.”

The Times