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Alex Wickham
@alexwickham
, 10 tweets, 4 min read Read on Twitter
NEW: 30 Labour MPs held talks about quitting the party in what was originally planned as a far more damaging assault on Jeremy Corbyn, but only 7 went ahead with the plan today amid chaotic disagreements over strategy, organisation and personalities

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/30…
Anti-Corbyn plotters have disagreed on whether:

- Chuka and Leslie should lead the new party
- they should set up a new party at all
- they should call/fight by-elections
- they should quit now or later
- they should let sex harassment accused MPs join buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/30…
🚨 At least 4 Tory MPs placed on defection watch:

- Anna Soubry, close Chuka ally, seen as the most likely to join. She is not commenting
- Nick Boles: non-denial
- Richard Harrington: non-denial
- Sarah Wollaston not commenting buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/30…
Divisions already over new party

- Some turned off by idea of Chuka/Leslie En Marche
- others critical of Jonathan Powell's "Cool Britannia 2019"
- Some don't want a new party at all
- "They are both a shitshow but Powell’s party is even more of a mess” buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/30…
Internal disagreements over by-elections

- some think defeating Labour in a Brexit by-election will make people listen. Chuka seen as most likely to succeed
- others fear they will lose their seats
- debate over whether to run in Peterborough/Newport buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/30…
Further differences over when to quit:

- Tom Watson asked MPs to delay their departures: "instrumental in keeping the numbers down"
- Chuka/Leslie wanted to go earlier
- some want to do it Feb 27
- others are sceptical about TIG and want to "wait and see" buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/30…
🚨 Independent Group MPs have held "positive" discussions with Speaker John Bercow about access to Short money and tabling amendments at the Brexit votes. Part of the reason why they moved now: buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/30…
Big row brewing as The Independent Group signals it could let sex harassment accused MPs John Woodcock and Ivan Lewis sit with them. Here is the spokesman line 😬😬😬 buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/30…
Further concerns aired about the overall competence of the operation:

- frustration at the plan leaking out yesterday, leading to a day of chaos and awkward silence from MPs
- shambles of booking a room for abortive Friday launch
- Angela Smith race row buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/30…
“They do not get on, they do not agree on fundamentals, there are personality clashes and they cannot do the basics" – the opinion of a figure who has worked with the group

Full story by me and @HannahAlOthman: buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/30…
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More from @alexwickham see all

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Alex Wickham
@alexwickham
EXC: A senior minister told colleagues in a leaked WhatsApp rant today that the Tories will lose the next election because the party has been taken over by "zealots" who talk "bollocks"

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/a-…
Senior minister Claire Perry, who attends cabinet, told the women Tory MPs' WhatsApp group today that "antediluvian old sods" have taken over the Tories and will lose them the next election, turning them into an opposition party "of the white shires" buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/a-…
Claire Perry on male Tory backbenchers to the women Tory MPs' WhatsApp group today... "a bunch of old white men no doubt are enjoying their morning coffee served to them by their long suffering wives" 🔥 buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/a-…
Read 5 tweets
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Alex Wickham
@alexwickham
NEW: Tory MP Christopher Chope (who previously objected to the upskirting bill) is branded an “embarrassment to your party and humanity” after indicating he will block new laws on female genital mutilation this afternoon

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/to…
Anti-FGM campaigners spent the week begging Christopher Chope via text message not to block the bill. He wouldn't speak to them on the phone. Chope complained they were subjecting him to “verbal abuse”. buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/to…
Chope also under pressure from whips who have asked him not to block the bill today. Govt source: "Christopher Chope is wrong." buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/to…
Read 4 tweets
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Alex Wickham
@alexwickham
AAWG ERG ARGH: Alternative Arrangements Working Group descends into acrimony over cancelled Northern Ireland trip as ERG splits on the Malthouse Compromise

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/aa…
AAWG was meant to visit Northern Ireland today to meet businesses, security officials and visit the border.

But three sources say the trip was called off after ERG feared a “Project O’Fear” No10 stitch up

Big new fallout between Brexiteers and ministers: buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/aa…
🚨Now a serious ERG split on Malthouse

One faction has hardened its position. It used to support a time-limit, now says that's not enough. Was thought to number about two dozen MPs. Now double that

Another faction thinks ERG has to compromise to avoid CU buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/aa…
Read 6 tweets

Related threads

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Doniel Rosenthal
@DonielRosenthal
Luciana Berger cited #Labour becoming "institutionally #AntiSemitic" as a key reason for quitting the party.

Despite all the evidence, there are those who still deny the severity of #LabourAntisemitism. Here's a thread detailing how institutionalised it truly is...
Starting at the very top with @JeremyCorbyn.

He infamously referred to #Hamas and #Hezbollah as "friends". Both organisations call for the extermination of #Israel, and regularly carry out attacks against #Jews. They're also both officially classified as #terrorist groups.
Perhaps the most well-known incident is #Corbyn's attendance at a wreath-laying ceremony in Tunisia in 2014, which honoured the terrorists who murdered 11 #Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Mr Corbyn claimed to be "present but not involved".
Read 16 tweets
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Mark Hazard #FBPE
@Bevanite2017
For the confused amongst you, I'm looking at you Blakeley, this is the basic economics of the situation.

The UK imports 50% of the food we consume.

When the £ falls in value against the $ & the Euro, the price of food we import from USA & EU rises, purely because you get ...
... fewer dollars and Euros to the pound.

You may be familiar with this concept, Grace, if you've ever been on holiday abroad, perhaps for a spot of skiing, at a time of currency fluctuations and had to exchange the £ for the Euro and then back again.
A general rise in prices, Blakeley, is what economists call inflation.

Ah, you say, but we were only talking about food.

True, but oil is priced in dollars so when the £ falls in value against dollar then, for example. the cost of transporting goods goes up across the economy.
Read 16 tweets
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Andrew Tipler
@andrewtipler
THREAD: I think we need to talk about the lefts stance on Party rebirth, & the holier than thou attitude that #Labour has on #libdems & tuition Fees. Given the rise of the far right & how much we actually agree on we really should be working together, so lets try to clear this up
For many of us @LibDems, we left @UKLabour when they voted & took us into Iraq.
Now the Labour left make the argument that Labour is not the same party that it was with Blair, & because Corbyn voted against Iraq; all must be forgiven. The party should be allowed to start afresh.
Fair enough. But if this was the case, why was Tim Farron nailed to the tuition fees cross by Labour campaigners at the last election? He voted AGAINST Fees in the same way Corbyn voted against Iraq.
Read 15 tweets
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Mr Corbyn in The Times
@TimesCorbyn
After my tweet below & the Times article today, I wondered if it was just a one-off, this support by a former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan for Mr Corbyn?
It wasn't.
12 Aug 2015 'British opposition leader candidate slammed for associations with David Duke'
& here's a picture of Duke (on the far left) in his younger days with some of his friends.
27 Sep 2015 'Jeremy Corbyn - 9/11 was manipulated: Zio watch'
& another pic of Duke on an outing.
Read 9 tweets
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Repso
@RepsoResearch
Which party has the oldest average age of MPs? THREAD
First off, we must thank-you all. We launched a poll on Monday expecting maybe 500 responses maximum. Instead we had a whopping three-thousand-two-hundred-and-thirty votes on our Twitter poll.

That’s ridiculous.
We asked you which party you thought had the oldest average age of MPs.

Most of you, 66%, thought it was the @Conservatives, then the @LibDems (15%), then @UKLabour (14%), with the @theSNP coming in last with (5%).

I bet the SNP are feeling fairly youthful right about now.
Read 25 tweets
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LAAS
@LabourAgainstAS
New...
PRESS RELEASE: @LabourAgainstAS Reported Secret Corbyn Antisemitism Group to Labour ‘Months Ago’
Labour Against Antisemitism (LAAS) has described the Labour Party as ‘not revealing the full truth’ of Labour membership of the secret ‘Palestine Live’ Facebook group.
Thread
The secret network, which featured highly antisemitic content, included Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as an active member in addition to Labour MPs Clive Lewis and Chris Williamson.
2.
The @UKLabour Party reported that it had suspended several members following revelations about the Palestine Live group in David Colliers report, but LAAS have revealed that they are aware of at least 107 members of the network who also claim to be Labour Party members.
3.
Read 10 tweets

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