John McDonnell among MPs to leap to Jeremy Corbyn's defence after Ian Austin brands him 'unfit to lead'

Mr Austin urged people to vote Tory
Bronwen Weatherby7 November 2019
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Senior Labour figures including John McDonnell have leapt to the defence of Jeremy Corbyn after ex-party minister Ian Austin urged the public to vote for Boris Johnson.

Former Labour MP Mr Austin, a former special advisor to Gordon Brown, told "decent" people to get behind the current Prime Minister in the election. He said he thought Jeremy Corbyn was "completely unfit to lead our country".

His comments, made during an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning, and repeated later during his Mainstream launch of anti-extremist posters, caused backlash among old colleagues.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell is the latest figure to react to the comments, claiming Mr Austin ​was now “employed by the Tories”.

“He’s now employed by the Tories: what else do you expect him to do in an election campaign where you’re employed by the Tories, you speak on behalf of the Tories. That’s what this was about this morning," Mr McDonnell said.

Jeremy Corbyn was described as "unfit" to run the country by former Labour MP Ian Austin
PA

Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott directed her anger at the media which reported Mr Austin's stance.

She said: "Ian Austin, 1 year as a junior minister at DCLG, says he won’t vote for Labour. Wall-to-wall coverage.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said Mr Austin was "employed by the Tories". 
Sky News

“Ken Clarke, 9 years as Secretary of State, including as Chancellor, says he won’t vote for the Conservatives. Silence. Balanced election coverage?”

Earlier in the week, Mr Clarke, who is stepping down as an MP after 49 years, told Channel 4 News he may not vote for the Conservatives if the party pursued a “crazy right-wing nationalist” agenda.

Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long Bailey said telling people to vote Conservative was "absurd" when asked about his comments.

She praised Mr Austin for his "great work" but said his differences with the Labour leader were "no secret".

The Labour MPs' attempts to close ranks around their leader came as another former Labour MP John Woodcock he will vote Conservative at the next election, and urged others to do the same.

 Labour MP John Woodcock joined Mr Austin in saying he will vote Conservative
PA Archive/PA Images

Mr Woodcock was speaking at the launch of a poster by the Mainstream campaign, which states: “Jeremy Corbyn: A disgrace to his party, a disgrace to this country.”

Mr Woodcock said: “There are one of two people who are going to be prime minister after an election. It is Boris Johnson or it is Jeremy Corbyn.”

“We pleaded with our friends in the Labour Party to face up to this choice, not to leave it until too late. Now all of that to an extent is water under the bridge, but we have arrived in a campaign where one of two people are going to be prime minister.”

He added: "The choice to keep Jeremy Corbyn away from Downing Street, to stop him getting his hands on the levers of national security and defence has to be to vote Conservative in this election and that’s what I’ll be doing as well.”

Many Conservative politicians including Jeremy Hunt and Dominic Raab have shown their appreciation for Mr Austin's testimonial.

"As Foreign Secretary I worked with @IanAustin1965 to honour the memory of unsung hero & British intelligence officer Frank Foley who saved the lives of many Jews in WW2," Mr Hunt wrote on Twitter.

"Today Ian too has shown great courage in speaking out and I am honoured to know him."

Chancellor Sajid Javid called Mr Austin “a brave man”, tweeting: “Ian is Labour to his core, but knows that Jeremy Corbyn is completely unfit to lead.”

During the radio interview, Mr Austin levelled criticism at Mr Corbyn and his government which has been embroiled in allegations of anti-semitism within the party.

Mr Austin said he felt the "Labour Party has been poisoned by racism, extremism and intolerance".

Addressing criticisms of failing to tackle anti-Semitism made by ex-MP Ian Austin and the Jewish Chronicle newspaper, Labour said the party had made “absolutely clear anti-Semitism has no place” in its ranks.

“Jeremy Corbyn is a lifelong campaigner against anti-Semitism and other forms of racism, hatred and bigotry,” said a party spokesman.

“He has made it absolutely clear that anti-Semitism has no place in our party and society, and that no one who engages in it does so in his name.

“The Labour Party is fully committed to the support, defence and celebration of the Jewish community.”

John McDonnell said Labour was “saddened” by the Jewish Chronicle’s front page.

He said: “Of course we’re saddened by it, but we’re doing everything actually they asked of us to address this issue.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in