Thread by @tony_nog

1) Corbyn reality check
I'll admit I've never been a Corbyn fan, my personal low point was actually the Sky TV special he did just before the Ref

I actually hoped he'd push a pro EU line but instead, he spent more time on rail nationalisation than the EU, it was very depressing

https://twitter.com/DPJHodges/status/1074741913847238657

2) the follow up with "we must trigger article 50 immediately" was shocking in itself but it was also the first time I saw Corbyn supporters pushing a "but what he meant was.." to any significant degree. That's the moment I suppose people really got entrenched either side

3) and its easy to understand why Corbyn's supporters feel under siege with the constant attacks.

But as we approach a cliff edge #Brexit in 100 days & Corbyn's limitations are helping to get us there, perhaps its time for a retrospective - maybe everyone was right?

4) the defining moment in Labour history is when the "blairite plotters" mass resigned & issued a vote of no confidence in Corbyn. This firmly embedded support for him & pushed most of the "talent" in Labour to the backbenchers

5) the reasons for the mass resignations were simple
- it was felt that Corbyn had campaigned poorly for Remain (and was actually pro Brexit)
- he was an electoral liability & MPs would lose their seats in any upcoming election

6) these "Blairite MPs" then came under continuous assault within the Labour Party as "traitors". The MSM was accused, with some justification, of anti Corbyn bias and when the FBPE movement started to criticise Corbyn's Brexit inaction they were attacked as an anti Corbyn cult

7) meanwhile the "Corbyn #Brexit long game" narrative began to emerge as well as a #PCPEU (Pro Corbyn Pro EU) movement, convinced that supporting Corbyn & Remain was not incompatible (PCPEU has now largely disappeared)

8) around the time of the first Labour conference post ref, Labour Remainers said "he's just one man, we're a democractic party, #Brexit will be debated"

It largely wasnt

9) there was also an election, where an absolute loss was turned into a minor loss for Labour as they gained seats but didn't win a majority.

This was another key point of division in thinking between the 2 camps as Corbyn supporters said "look, we gained seats, Jez we can"

10) meanwhile others looked on in disbelief as they said "but he didn't win, or even come close, and May's election campaign was the worst in living memory, and there's clear evidence that Remainers jumped to Labour in desperation"

11) but fast forward to today.
Few people believe any more that Corbyn was playing a "long game"
For months @billybragg & @BarryGardiner played the "never interrupt your enemy" line to pretend that inaction & lack of engagement was actually strategy

@billybragg @BarryGardiner 12) meanwhile despite all the MSM attention being on May & her appalling behavior Corbyn still has absolutely shocking personal ratings in every poll, and Labour are neck & neck with the most divided government in history

@billybragg @BarryGardiner 13) so all of the early promise has fallen away. Corbyn had a poor referendum campaign but a positively pro Brexit campaign since

Every single intervention Corbyn has made since has been to reinforce & support Brexit
"We are leaving"
"Brexit dividend"
"We can't stop it"

@billybragg @BarryGardiner 14) the last line of defence, "what about Northern seats", was always self serving party before country (though pro Corbyn supporters seem to think that what's good for Labour is automatically good for the country)

But as polls come in showing a shift to Remain, still no action

@billybragg @BarryGardiner 15) but what of the other Corbyn qualities - new kind of politics, listen to the members, straightforward & honest, man of integrity?

All false, all a myth.

The members have been overridden & Labour's Brexit position is by some margin the most dishonest & unrealistic in play

@billybragg @BarryGardiner 16) no-one talks anymore about the "different kind of leadership" because its so patently a lie. The clear membership demand for a #PeoplesVote is being systematically crushed by the leadership, front benchers such as @AngelaRayner are calling Labour members "undemocratic"

@billybragg @BarryGardiner @AngelaRayner 17) hard as it is to swallow, the "blairite plotters" were right. Corbyn is pro Brexit, and he essentially misled & is ignoring the young Labour voters who elected him

And he is an electoral liability, failing to make any headway against an utterly incompetent government

@billybragg @BarryGardiner @AngelaRayner 18) #FBPE was right, #PCPEU was a tragic oxymoron.

And meanwhile whilst some of those plotters are heroically upholding the interests of the members on Brexit, Corbyn's FB is stuffed with non entities who's only quality is loyalty to Corbyn

@billybragg @BarryGardiner @AngelaRayner 19) these Corbyn drones go out on the airwaves repeating the nonsense Vote Leave style unicorn Brexit, calling for a GE they have absolutely no interest in having because they don't want to own Brexit

@billybragg @BarryGardiner @AngelaRayner 20) finally, most ironically, those supporters who attacked the "Blairites" for triangulating on austerity, now absolutely support Corbyn triangulation on Brexit and Leave voters.

It's a remarkable about take.

@billybragg @BarryGardiner @AngelaRayner 21) the thing is the rest of us get it.The Tory party isn't fit for purpose & it's likely that Labour had lost its way

But if you're a Corbyn supporter who's got this far, firstly, thanks, but secondly,

The future of the country is at stake
The people you fight for are at risk

@billybragg @BarryGardiner @AngelaRayner 22) the time is long past to realise:
What you voted for was a lie

The plotters were dead right

There is no long game

Inaction is not strategy

This isn't a different kind of politics

There is no "I support Corbyn apart from Brexit", it defines him

Corbyn will never be PM

@billybragg @BarryGardiner @AngelaRayner 23) but, if he ever did get to be PM, as said, his approach to Brexit defines him
Ineffective
Authoritarian
Indecisive yet also stubborn
Not interested in empowering the members
Impatient
Secretive & dishonest

The worst possible PM

@billybragg @BarryGardiner @AngelaRayner 24) the moral vacuum of at the heart of the Corbyn supporter belief system on Brexit has been this:

He's playing a long game, he has to be seen to be pro brexit & anti immigration because of Leave voters"

Or

"I support him because I believe he's lying to everyone"

@billybragg @BarryGardiner @AngelaRayner PS) last night I spoke to my brother, 67, lifelong Labour, ex trade union Rep, supported Corbyn because he's Leader:

"I'm so frustrated with Corbyn, we've never had the Tory party on the ropes like this *in my lifetime* and he's doing nothing, he's blowing it"

Core vote
End/

@billybragg @BarryGardiner @AngelaRayner PPS) why this thread? Because Labour supporters need to *do* something & Corbyn supporters need to decide is their loyalty to Corbyn or to the party and its voters?

Brexit is a disaster, of the right, by the right, for the right

@billybragg @BarryGardiner @AngelaRayner Leave Labour on mass, protest, denounce Corbyn if you have to but we need you to act, now, before it's too late

We know where Labour is on #Brexit, and it's not where the Leadership is

Incompetent or complicit in Brexit, they are the only options