When people say that elements of the left actually prefer opposition, this is what we mean.
Labour is doing such a great job of winning over voters that they’ve won over an actual Conservative MP. This is what winning the argument looks like. But, for the Morning Star, winning arguments is a sign of failure!
Normally at this point, the Star and its fellow-travellers will say something like, ‘We shouldn’t “win the argument” at the cost of becoming indistinguishable from the Tories!’ But this guy crossing the floor proves that Labour aren’t indistinguishable from the Tories: If they were, what would be the point of defecting? He could just stay in the governing party rather than making the difficult personal and professional decision to join with an ‘indistinguishable’ Opposition.
He … will not be running again as the MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich
So really it’s Labour accepts a free seat in the commons. Being principled is nice but ultimately meaningless if you have no power to enact those principles.
He … accepted a free invitation to the exclusive members-only R&A golf club in St Andrews last August
The only people who wouldn’t welcome a defector from the governing party in a move that further damages the government are the kind of cranks who read the Morning Star.
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