‘He is not a proper party leader’
Jeremy Corbyn walked out of a meeting with opposition party leaders on Wednesday afternoon due to the presence of Chuka Umunna.
Umunna recently quit the Labour Party to sit in parliament with the ‘Independent Group’, frustrated with Labour’s ambiguity over their Brexit policy and the general incompetence at the top of the party.
His resignation was one of many from either side of the commons, as we edge closer to crashing out of the EU with no deal in place.
Anna Soubry also left the Conservatives to join this group of 11 MPs, as a vocal supporter of a second EU referendum. Like Umunna, she could not support her own party’s position on the biggest issue facing the country since the Second World War.
The Independent Group is not an official party and still lacks any official policies of substance. Umunna is the group’s official spokesperson, but Corbyn reportedly refused to sit in a meeting with opposition leaders if he was present.
ITV’s Paul Brand tweeted that Corbyn said: “He’s not a proper party leader,” before walking out.
NEW: Understand Jeremy Corbyn refused to join meeting with opposition leaders because Chuka Umunna was there. “He’s not a proper party leader”. Corbyn walked out.
— Paul Brand (@PaulBrandITV) March 20, 2019
A Labour spokesperson said: “It was not the meeting that had been agreed and the terms were broken. We are in discussions with Number 10 about holding the bilateral meeting with the PM that Jeremy proposed at PMQs.”
Umunna confirmed this, speaking to ITV in the lobby.
Jeremy Corbyn has refused to attend a Brexit meeting with the PM 'because Chuka Umunna was there'.
Here the Independent Group spokesman tells @PaulBrandITV about the Labour leader's 'extraordinary behaviour' https://t.co/GxA9ZXQEp7 pic.twitter.com/cHiqb3E0fp
— ITV News (@itvnews) March 20, 2019
Brand also reported that opposition leaders said during the meeting that they will only back her Brexit deal if the public are given a ‘People’s Vote’ on said deal, something May has been reluctant to do, saying that the public has already had its say.
Opposition leaders stressed at meeting with PM that they will only back her deal subject to People’s Vote.
— Paul Brand (@PaulBrandITV) March 20, 2019
May is understood to have asked for a short extension in order to get her Brexit deal over the line. Speaker of the House John Bercow recently prevented her from bringing the deal to the table for a third meaningful vote, citing an ancient precedent that states it must be substantially different if the house is to vote on it again.
