by Pay Waugh | Politics
Angela Eagle will have won some admirers in Labour circles for her attacks on Boris (“Get that lie off your bus!”). But she also fuelled speculation that she really did want Jeremy Corbyn’s job, one day, when Boris hit back that she could become Labour leader. “Boris, beware the Blonde Bombshell!” Eagle said, a gleam in her eye. Of course, she may have been making a clumsy attempt just to warn the nation of the ‘Blond bombshell’ that is Johnson - but it sounded like something else.
Yet there are jitters in the Labour camp, and it’s not just the feeling from the Shadow Cabinet that Corbyn hasn’t shown enough passion for the Remain cause. On Newsnight, Andy Burnham became the first senior figure to warn that Brexit could happen because the party was not hitting key voters with its message.
The StrongerIn campaign says it’s got at least £2m less than the Leave campaign, but counters that it will be doing more grassroots events, a real street-fighting effort. But their rivals may be winning the air war and the ground war. And in Labour’s backyard the battle is being particularly keenly felt, with Labour-UKIP switchers influencing their workmates, friends and family.
Labour Eurosceps Dennis Skinner and John Mann have come out for Brexit (the latter in the Sun) to undermine the main Labour In message. The whiff of panic in Labour ranks is palpable as Tom Watson today unveils a new warning that an emergency Budget post-Brexit would include £18bn in benefit cuts and tax hikes.
Ed Miliband is at a 'UK in A Changing EU' think tank event today. And he was on the Today programme arguing that the poorest and lowest paid would be hit hardest by Brexit. But he also hit the nail on the head. "Labour voters don't know where we stand," Miliband admitted.
Meanwhile, Corbyn really is on his last legs. Or rather he really is on The Last Leg, the Channel 4 comedy show, tonight. His MPs don’t look like they’re laughing however. And to paraphrase Andy Burnham’s former love, the Smiths, that joke may not be funny any more, come June 24.
Angela Eagle will have won some admirers in Labour circles for her attacks on Boris (“Get that lie off your bus!”). But she also fuelled speculation that she really did want Jeremy Corbyn’s job, one day, when Boris hit back that she could become Labour leader. “Boris, beware the Blonde Bombshell!” Eagle said, a gleam in her eye. Of course, she may have been making a clumsy attempt just to warn the nation of the ‘Blond bombshell’ that is Johnson - but it sounded like something else.
Yet there are jitters in the Labour camp, and it’s not just the feeling from the Shadow Cabinet that Corbyn hasn’t shown enough passion for the Remain cause. On Newsnight, Andy Burnham became the first senior figure to warn that Brexit could happen because the party was not hitting key voters with its message.
The StrongerIn campaign says it’s got at least £2m less than the Leave campaign, but counters that it will be doing more grassroots events, a real street-fighting effort. But their rivals may be winning the air war and the ground war. And in Labour’s backyard the battle is being particularly keenly felt, with Labour-UKIP switchers influencing their workmates, friends and family.
Labour Eurosceps Dennis Skinner and John Mann have come out for Brexit (the latter in the Sun) to undermine the main Labour In message. The whiff of panic in Labour ranks is palpable as Tom Watson today unveils a new warning that an emergency Budget post-Brexit would include £18bn in benefit cuts and tax hikes.
Ed Miliband is at a 'UK in A Changing EU' think tank event today. And he was on the Today programme arguing that the poorest and lowest paid would be hit hardest by Brexit. But he also hit the nail on the head. "Labour voters don't know where we stand," Miliband admitted.
Meanwhile, Corbyn really is on his last legs. Or rather he really is on The Last Leg, the Channel 4 comedy show, tonight. His MPs don’t look like they’re laughing however. And to paraphrase Andy Burnham’s former love, the Smiths, that joke may not be funny any more, come June 24.
* Paul Waugh is Executive Editor, HuffPost, UK.
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