MOST SHARED: WEEK 256

It was a week when former race relations chief Trevor Phillips was suspended by Labour for being 'racist'.  One of his long list of 'offences' was to state that the paedophile grooming gangs roaming many of our towns and cities were "mostly of Pakistani Muslim origin".  He's obviously not wrong there, but such facts are frowned upon in his party, something that cost former frontbencher Sarah Champion her job in 2017.  Contrast their treatment with that of Bradford West MP Naz Shah.  About a week after Champion was forced out, Naz Shah shared a tweet that suggested grooming gang victims should shut their mouths for the good of diversity.  A few months later she was made the Shadow Minister of State for Diversity (yes, there is such a role).

A BTLP original, this was shared 4,154 times via the Facebook page.

PRITI GOOD RECOGNITION

The government is making some very promising noises at the moment.  The rhetoric surrounding post-Brexit negotiations, early release for terrorists, jobs for veterans and the environment is all positive and now we can add a couple of issues that have long been overlooked by both government and opposition.  When the Manchester grooming gang report came out a few weeks ago there was the usual deafening silence from the Labour benches, but there was no comment from the government either.  Step forward Labour MP Sarah Champion and the Home Secretary in a truly refreshing act of cross-party co-operation, albeit with Champion acting unilaterally.

In any other situation, a Labour MP's decision to work alongside a Tory minister would result in an avalanche of leftist abuse.  However, hardly a single spiteful comment has been passed on Champion's glowing tribute to Priti Patel, not from Labour's balloon head membership anyway.  Patel also tweeted an account of the meeting and preceded this with a Home Office statement on another touchy topic no-one in high office ever talks about - female genital mutilation.

Up until last year this backward barbaric practice did not warrant a single successful prosecution in the UK, for the same reason that Muslim grooming gangs were covered up for so long.  Now the Home Office has released a new advert and an overhaul to their advice.

While a solitary FGM conviction and a cosy circle meeting in South Yorkshire is nowhere near enough to combating these disgusting crimes, at least they're now prepared to talk about them.  That's a start - and more than would have happened under a comrade Corbyn government.

Sarah Champion and Priti Patel discuss Rotherham grooming gangs

THE LABOUR SIX

As if Corbyn hadn't suffered enough already, there were raised eyebrows on Friday when it emerged that six Labour MPs had voted in favour of Boris Johnson's Withdrawal Agreement.  This came despite an insidious purge of pro-Leave MPs and candidates over the course of the last year.  All but one MP who backed Leave in 2016 now remains in the Parliamentary Labour Party (Graham Stringer).  The others were purged by way of various means - either suspended (Kelvin Hopkins), deselected (Roger Godsiff) or driven out (Frank Field, Kate Hoey).  Those who backed Remain initially, but had since backed Leave faced similar pressures.  Caroline Flint survived the purge, but she did not survive the election.

So, who were the rebels that defied the Labour whips on Friday?

Sarah Champion (Rotherham - 68% Leave)
Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire - 55% Leave)
Jon Cruddas (Dagenham & Rainham - 70% Leave)
Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields - 62% Leave)
Grahame Morris (Easington - 66% Leave)
Toby Perkins (Chesterfield - 59% Leave)

Labour's lone 2016 Brexiteer did not vote on the bill, but he has not backed the Withdrawal Agreement previously either.  Graham Stringer was one of 32 Labour MPs who did not register a vote, although this could be due to absence rather than abstention.  Ten Conservatives also failed to vote, but again it's unclear whether they were present - did some MPs slope off early for Christmas?

THE LABOUR 19

Nineteen Labour MPs have written to the EU imploring that they come to an agreement with our government as "the British people have become exasperated with Parliamentary deadlock".  Well, they're not wrong there!  The letter, addressed to Jean-Claude Juncker (and a copy also sent to Donald Tusk), can be seen below.  Click to enlarge.

The letter has been denounced by Labour Remainers who are furious that Labour MPs - elected on a manifesto that stated that "Labour accepts the referendum result" - should have the barefaced cheek and audacity to uphold said result and party manifesto!  "What planet are you all on" blasts 

@annikahjelmskog.  "Gobsmacked and very scared this is coming from Labour MPs elected on a Corbyn manifesto" moans @linda_whyman, apparently oblivious to the actual manifesto they were elected on.  "You don't speak for me or most Labour supporters" says @fliss59, obviously forgetting that an overwhelming number of Labour constituencies voted Leave.

The nineteen MPs who signed the above letter are as follows, including constituency and Leave/Remain vote.

Kevin Barron (Rother Valley) 67% Leave

Sarah Champion (Rotherham) 68% Leave

Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) 55% Leave

Jon Cruddas (Dagenham & Rainham) 70% Leave

Gloria De Piero (Ashfield) 70% Leave

Jim Fitzpatrick (Poplar & Limehouse) 66% Remain

Caroline Flint (Don Valley) 68% Leave

Yvonne Fovargue (Makerfield) 65% Leave

Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central) 68% Leave

Stephen Kinnock (Aberavon) 60% Leave

Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) 62% Leave

Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port & Neston) 58% Leave

Grahame Morris (Easington) 66% Leave

Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby) 71% Leave

Stephanie Peacock (Barnsley East) 71% Leave

Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) 64% Remain

Ruth Smeeth (Stoke-on-Trent North) 72% Leave

Laura Smith (Crewe & Nantwich) 60% Leave

Gareth Snell (Stoke-on Trent Central) 65% Leave

REMAIN... ON THE FENCE

Jeremy Corbyn's most recent Brexit u-turn (if you can keep up) will keep him firmly under the cosh from both sides.  While he remains committed to holding a second referendum (in direct contradiction of Labour's 2017 manifesto), he says Labour would sit on the fence in that referendum.  Good luck getting all your MPs on board with that policy!  Several have already indicated they would ignore such a strategy and openly campaign for Remain.  Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford has also announced he would back Remain and has instructed Welsh members to follow suit (despite the fact Wales voted Leave in 2016).

However, Jezza actually has some support for his policy of neutrality.  That support has been mobilised by Rotherham Constituency Labour Party by way of a motion to be submitted to the forthcoming party conference (see below, click to enlarge).

One might commend Rotherham CLP for resisting the full-on Remain stance, but why can't they actually support the huge Leave mandate that was handed to them in 2016 by the Rotherham electorate?  The constituency returned one of the strongest Leave votes in the country at 68%, yet the local Labour Party would rather sit on the fence and, by proxy, ignore their instruction by supporting another referendum.

Curiously there is no mention of Rotherham's MP in the motion or the accompanying letter.  That's probably because Sarah Champion has ideas of her own.  She recently caused a stir among Remainers by not only daring to suggest that the Leave mandate should be implemented, but that she would personally opt for a no deal exit over revocation.  Watch the shocking exchange below, courtesy of Politics Live (don't watch if you are of a remoan disposition).

There will have been some tea and coffee spat out that lunchtime.

CHAMPION WOULD OPT FOR NO DEAL

Rotherham MP Sarah Champion is the latest Labour MP to break ranks with the Remain lobby now dictating Brexit policy.  Champion told Politics Live that she would choose 'no deal' over no Brexit (watch below).  It's no great surprise to see Champion adopting this stance, her constituency returned a 68 per cent Leave vote.  She follows the likes of Melanie Onn, Ruth Smeeth, Stephanie Peacock and Caroline Flint, all of whom backed Remain three years ago, but have become increasingly vocal about respecting the Leave mandate (and saving their seats).  However, don't expect the likes of Yvette Cooper, Tom Watson or Mary Creagh to join that list any time soon!