‘So utterly mindlessly behind leader’, Labour MP slams Tories over allegiance to Boris

Labour MP baffled as Tory ‘so utterly mindlessly behind’ Boris

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The Conservative MPs’ allegiance to Boris Johnson amid the party gate row is “worrying”, Labour MP Dame Margaret Beckett has said. Over the course of her almost five-decade service to the country, MP Margaret says she has never observed such a high level of loyalty to a conservative leader in times of crisis. Over the last few months, pressure has been ramping up on Boris Johnson over partygate, as some Tory MPs reportedly considered ousting him – especially after a stinging defeat in the local elections. But Boris Johnson has so far escaped a no-confidence motion despite renewed growing calls to trigger a no-confidence motion.

When asked if she had ever seen a government like this one, Ms Beckett said: “Never, never have before and hope never to again.

“What’s more and what’s in some ways almost more worrying.

“I’ve never seen the conservative party as it is now.

“I mean, they are individuals, of course, who earn respect and must be treated seriously.

“But I’ve never seen the Conservative Party so utterly mindlessly behind their leader.

“And so totally uncaring of the fact their leader is trashing many of the most cherished conventions that the Conservative party historically has supported.”

Drawing a parallel between former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson, LBC’s Andrew Marr then put a theory to Ms Beckett: “In your time under Tony Blair, the Labour party reached way out of its comfort zone into Middle England, into middle-class Middle England and talked about the importance of better education, law and order, all of that.

“They won over lots of formerly Tory voters.

“And you won three stonkingly big general elections results as a result of that.

“However, perhaps the penalty was, the Labour party ceased to understand quite what it was and who it was.

“Big arguments took place which led Jeremy Corbyn to become leader.”

“And in the same kind of way, Boris Johnson has reached out deep into what used to be Labour England and has acquired quite a lot of high-spending MPs. You know, they want more public spending, more investment”, Mr Marr added.

“Sometimes, if you close your eyes, they sign like Labour MPs.

“And then, therefore, the Conservative party ceases to understand quite who it is and has become some sort of Boris Johnson’s Brexit.   

To that theory, Ms Beckett answered: “It’s a very interesting theory and I shall want to go away and think about it.”

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“But I would say no – we weren’t outside our comfort zone under Tony, you know, doing what we did for education”, Ms Beckett said.

“Having all those MPs in rural or in semi-rural seats and so on.

“In fact, we offered them then opportunities and support that they’d never got from the Conservatives, which is why we held on to those seats for so long.”

A total of 54 letters sent by Tory MPs is required to trigger a no-confidence vote. Unnamed Conservative sources told Insider that the latest revelations have brought the number of letters closer to that threshold.

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