“You get a Labour government, you support a Labour government” – Kinnock rebukes suggestion of rebellious backbenchers

Neil Kinnock has warned against disgruntled backbenchers causing problems for an Ed Miliband government, saying Labour candidates should refrain from being “unhelpful” in the election run-up. In an interview with the New Statesman, the former Labour leader said that he believes the likeliest outcome is that Miliband will be PM, probably leading a minority government – which would leave little room for backbench rebellions.

Lord Kinnock was asked about comments made by John McDonnell in a previous NS interview, where he said that as many as 40 left-wing Labour MPs could block a Miliband Budget if it included any cuts to public spending. Kinnock warned that party activists, including himself, would not stand for the kind of actions that could see a Tory Government return to power:

“Sabre-rattling before an election is unhelpful, ill-advised and likely to be much smaller in its significance than the sabre-rattlers would like to think. That’s not an old man speaking from the mists of time: that’s a party activist saying, ‘You get a Labour government, you support a Labour government.’”

He also praised Miliband, saying that he is “performing outstandingly” and that “he’s manifestly very bright [and] he’s brave, which is a terrific quality”. The current Labour leader will have no problem managing Commons votes, Kinnock believes, even though deals with the SNP and the Lib Dems are unlikely:

“Ed will manage the Commons, very able people with him will manage the Commons. I don’t think there are many other options [to minority government] that are realistic or desirable. Patently, [there can be] no coalition or concession to the Nats; and any arrangement with the Liberals would have to be on Labour terms.”