Hours after being sacked from Labour’s Shadow Cabinet, Hilary Benn popped up again to issue a not-so-coded call for revolution.
Despite being tipped as a potential rival to Jeremy Corbyn in the past, Benn downplayed his own ambitions and ruled himself out of standing for leader.
But while he described his decision to speak out as a personal one, he made it clear others who felt similarly should speak out.
Benn told Andrew Marr: “I have been a member of the lab party for 45 years. I’ve devoted my personal and political life to it, and if things are not working I think we have a wider responsiboility to the party that we love to speak out.
“Lots of people will say this isn’t an ideal time. There’s never an ideal time. I thought it was important to speak out.”
Describing Corbyn as a “good and decent man”, Benn said he was not a leader and agreed he should consider resigning: “I no longer have confidence in him and I think the right thing to do would be for him to take that decision.”
He added: “I am not going to be a candidate for the leader of the Labour party. I haven’t taken this decision because I want to. I have taken the decision becauuse I think it’s the right thing to do for the Labour party.”
As Benn was speaking, rumours of a Shadow Cabinet revolt was mounting, with Labour’s last Scottish MP Ian Murray among those expected to resign.
But while there’s no doubt Benn has the support of many of his fellow MPs, more than 169,000 ordinary members of the public have signed a petition urging support for Corbyn after Brexit. If there is a parliamentary coup, it’s going to be bloody.
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