Owen Smith mulls Labour leadership challenge
Owen Smith |
Angela
Eagle announced yesterday (30th June), that she will delay her
challenge for the leadership of the Labour party, to "Allow
Jeremy more time to consider his position and resign".
(Arrogance hardly describes this woman's attitude.)
It
seems that the conspirators are meeting over the week end to discuss
their next subterfuge as Owen Smith (who?) emerges as a possible
challenger. It sounds very much like blunt knives scraping an empty
barrel. The strategy of these treacherous hypocrites has been clear
from the outset. Resign en-mass in a stage managed stream in the full
glare of the (pre briefed) media, and Jeremy will resign within
hours. They miscalculated the effect that this act of betrayal would
have and within minutes, the leadership made it abundantly clear,
that their strategy was to stand firm and fight saying that there was
no intention to resign and if the conspirators wanted the leadership,
they would have to mount a challenge in accordance with the party
rules.
This
appears to have thrown the plotters into some disarray, as their
original strategy of being reliant on Corbyn resigning
and handing them the leadership on a plate, was
now dead in the water. They hurriedly threw out some options of
challengers, with Tom Watson and Angela Eagle being considered as the
most likely of their numbers to be best
positioned to defeat Jeremy Corbyn in a leadership election. The
question was which one? However, they continued to agitate for their
preferred option of Corbyn resigning. Even this cobbled together
strategy,
disintegrated within 24 hours as Tom Watson declared that he would
not stand, and after The
Chair and Secretary of her Wallasey CLP wrote to Eagle
expressing
their backing for the leader and urging
their MP to oppose the ‘motion of no confidence’ in Corbyn,
her expected declaration for Thursday was delayed for at least 24
hours
and later announcing that she would give Jeremy time over the weekend
to "consider his position).
Having
lost certainly one of their duplicitous members, and quite possibly
both of their "leadership candidates" the PLP will now
consider their next moves over the weekend, still hoping for a
resignation but now reluctantly accepting that if they want the
leadership they will have to fight an election campaign
for it.
Therein lies their dilemma. They may have many names to choose from,
but which of those names could be a credible candidate rather
be seen as a self
serving opportunist, bathed in the stench of betrayal.
It is reported but not confirmed, that the PLP will announce their
intentions
and the name of a challenger on Monday of next week. The latest name
in the frame is Owen Smith MP for Pontypridd and former Shadow
secretary for Work and Pensions. However, this in itself creates a
problem within the PLP as Smith supporters battle with Eagle
supporters for the position of challenger, even assuming
that she is till prepared to stand without changing her mind over
this next
week
end.
The
PLP are in a predicament. Time is running out for them to make a
challenge. To further delay this phase of their plot will result in
them losing all traces of their already fractured credibility and
their claim of acting in the best interest of the Labour party
will be seen as just hypocritical rhetoric.
They
are still clinging to the hope that Jeremy Corbyn will resign, but
that hope is diminishing rapidly.
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