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Election

On the final day of campaigning, 15 former Labour MPs are urging voters not to back Jeremy Corbyn in Thursday’s election. The group cite the Labour leader’s record on anti-Semitism and "extremism", as well as his views on national security. The former MPs have signed an open letter - organised by campaign group Mainstream - that they say will run as full page adverts across a number of local and regional newspapers in the north of England, including dozens of marginal constituencies. The group includes several outspoken critics of Mr Corbyn, including Ian Austin, Gisela Stuart and Louise Ellman, as well as others who have not previously spoken out directly against him. The advert reads: “Everyone wants a safer, fairer society. But in this election the Labour Party is set to deliver the opposite. “We were all lifelong Labour voters and all former Labour MPs. We are voting for different parties at this election, but we have all come to the difficult decision not to vote Labour.” Ian Austin, chairman of Mainstream, says this is a “hard decision for Labour supporters" but “the risk is just too great”. The other signatories are Ann Coffey, Jim Dowd, Rob Flello, Mike Gapes, Tom Harris, Chris Leslie, Tom Levitt, Ivan Lewis, Michael McCann, Joan Ryan, Gavin Shuker and John Woodcock. Labour, of course, deny these sorts of accusations - they say Jeremy Corbyn has made great improvements in the way anti-Semitism allegations are being handled and has apologised for mistakes made in the past. In years gone by, Mr Corbyn publicly supported withdrawal of the UK from military alliance Nato - something his critics now often point to - but the 2019 Labour manifesto states the party is committed to ongoing membership.


Created By on 11/12/2019

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