Thread by @tony_nog

1) Thread - Labour, dodgy right Brexit activities & missed opportunities
Today I was a bystander in a discussion between @OwenJones84 & @JolyonMaugham around tweeting on Vote Leave's illegal spending, which I think is part of a bigger missed opportunity on #Brexit for Labour

2) Lets just be honest - the Tory party & #Brexit has always been dodgy. Charlatans who misled people given high government office and all that. But the last few months have had some significant revelations of dubious practices, only one of which was Vote Leave illegal spending

3) I wont't even get a complete list here but some highlights are:
- Cambridge Analytica "harvested accounts" scandal
- Links with AIQ & the Trump campaigns
- Vote Leave overspending
- Lack of clarity on Leave.EU funding

4)
- Arron Banks, diamond mines & Russian "boozy lunches"
- Russian cyber warfare
- Collusion between campaigns
- Offshoring by leading Leave Figures
- and the latest - US based shadowy funding for right wing think tanks which then publish "Plans for Brexit"

5) Now, the reality is, this is a gift to a Labour opposition. It's a basket case of hidden money & agendas, dodgy connections, illegal activity, "what did you know and when did you know it?" - all of which is tied to the Tory party.

6) a moderately skillful opposition could have easily crafted this into a narrative, with each revelation building on the last towards a fatal undermining of the government.
The Heads of Ministers would be demanded, the scandals being exposed on a weekly basis
But Labour didn't

7) Why didn't Labour do this? To be fair Tom Watson is asking for a public inquiry but there doesn't seem to be much enthusiasm from the Leadership

But for example this latest story is explosive! The very think tanks producing Brexit proposals funded by US deregulation zealots

8) These are exactly the kinds of stories that would play to Corbyn's perceived strengths - NHS predators, "race to the bottom" deregulation experts.

By now the Tory gov. would be barely hanging on

There's a couple of reasons why Labour have missed this opportunity, none good

9) The first might be just plain incompetence - the Labour leadership just don't have the experience or vision to build this narrative and Corbyn is perhaps incapable of carrying it

10) The 2nd might be that this narrative undermines #Brexit, and the Corbyn leadership is so paralyzed by its northern seats that it is simply too scared to engage on this kind of narrative in case it is accused of being a "Brexit wrecker"

11) A 3rd, similar option might just be that Labour has painted itself into a corner - commentators like @OwenJones84 and the Leadership have spent so long saying "we must respect the result" that they are too embarrassed to point out why that result is actually flawed

12) The final option however might be a lot simpler - the Labour Leadership just want #Brexit, and would sacrifice an opportunity to fatally wound the Tories rather than risk Brexit being stopped.

After the attempt to squash the #PeoplesVote this is my pick

13) However, to answer that regular question "but what can Labour do about #Brexit, the Tories are in charge?"

They could have done this - highlighted all of the dodgy dealing & funding, *without explicitly opposing Brexit*

"we respect the result but look at this scandal!"

14) It literally does not get any better for an opposition - and the narrative of corruption, illegality, opaque funding & foreign influence would have been a powerful attack on the Tories

But it would also have undermined #Brexit, and we can't have that
end/

Stop Press - PS
I still think more should have been done, but this is very positive at least and shows this is starting to get some traction in Labour

https://twitter.com/johnmcdonnellMP/status/1045817394969681920