Time for Corbyn to consider his position, say Labour MSPs

More than half of Labour’s Members of the Scottish Parliament have signed a statement calling on Jeremy Corbyn to consider his position as party leader.

This comes several days after Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale made similar comments about Corbyn’s position.

In the public statement, signed by 13 of Scottish Labour’s 24 MSPs, the parliamentarians say that Corbyn should “reflect seriously” on Tuesday’s overwhelming vote of no confidence in Corbyn by Westminster MPs. They say they “believe that the Leader of the Labour Party has to have the confidence of the MPs he leads in order to be our candidate for Prime Minister.”

Kezia Dugdale has not signed the statement, but former Scottish Labour leaders Johann Lamont and Iain Gray have both put their name to it, as has former deputy leader Anas Sarwar.

Following Tuesday’s ballot of MPs, a majority of Labour’s Members of the European Parliament also backed a letter asking Corbyn to “reconsider your position”. And yesterday saw another resignation from the frontbench, as Rob Marris announced his decision to step down during a Finance Bill Committee.

You can read the full statement here:

The first duty of the Labour Party is to provide an effective voice for working people in communities, council chambers, Assemblies and Parliaments across the UK. All of us joined the Labour Party because we aspire to deliver Labour Governments in Scotland and across the UK.

As Parliamentarians, and the elected representatives in a parliament representing millions of people – including Labour voters – across Scotland, we would expect any Leader to reflect seriously on such a substantial vote of no confidence. As Kezia Dugdale rightly said, if she could not command the confidence of 80% of her Labour Group then she would consider her position.

In circumstances where a General Election may be called in the next few weeks or months, we believe that the Leader of the Labour Party has to have the confidence of the MPs he leads in order to be our candidate for Prime Minister.

It is deeply regrettable that we have to make such a statement, but for the good of the party and, more importantly, the country we believe Jeremy Corbyn, who is a principled man, must do the right thing and allow the party to once again provide effective opposition and regroup as a credible party of Government.

Jackie Baillie MSP
Claire Baker MSP
Claudia Beamish MSP
Neil Bibby MSP
Mary Fee MSP – Scottish Parliament Group Chair
Iain Gray MSP
Mark Griffin MSP
Daniel Johnson MSP
James Kelly MSP
Johann Lamont MSP
Lewis Macdonald MSP
Anas Sarwar MSP
Colin Smyth MSP