Left Unity, the leftwing party founded by Ken Loach, has voted not to stand in the coming elections and throw its weight behind Jeremy Corbyn. Left Unity member Simon Hardy told Alan Johnson, former Cabinet minister, that he needed to be more supportive of Jeremy Corbyn. Johnson reacted angrily:
“I’ve been with Jeremy the whole time as a Labour member of Parliament and he never went off on to one of these flights of fancy. I’ve been with Jeremy while we introduced the minimum wage, when we introduced the education maintenance allowance, when we introduced sure start children’s centres, when we reduced child poverty, when we attacked pensioner poverty, when we gave trade unionists the right to be represented, the right not to be sacked for going on strike. You have done none of that. All you have done is print put your leaflets despising the Labour party and suggest that over here there is a plausible alternative. Now you have found that that doesn’t work so you now want to come into the Labour party. And you won’t be welcomed.”