Margaret Hodge: Starmer should call out PM for breaking international law

Margaret Hodge has declared that Labour must call out the government over its intention to break international law on Brexit and said she regrets that “we haven’t heard the voice of the leadership more strongly in the debate”.

The Barking MP and parliamentary chair of the Jewish Labour Movement appeared at an online Zoom event held by Labour to Win this afternoon, alongside ruling body member Gurinder Singh Josan and councillor Marianna Masters.

Hodge highlighted that the Sunday papers this week have been dominated by criticism of Boris Johnson’s government by former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and John Major, adding that Labour should be “taking the front pages on that issue”.

On how Labour can win at the next general election, Hodge said this afternoon: “Leadership of course matters, and we do now have a leader who is credible and who looks as if he is a Prime Minister in waiting.

“But we can’t win because the Tories lose. We also have to be bold and clear in what we say. And I regret the fact that, particularly around this dastardly move to ignore international law, we haven’t heard the voice of the leadership more strongly in the debate.”

The government this week published proposed legislation for internal market arrangements after the Brexit transition period ends. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis admitted to MPs that the plans would break international law.

Asked during a Sky News interview about the controversial move from the government, the Labour leader emphasised the importance of the Tories delivering on the promise made during the general election to get a deal with the EU.

Writing for The Telegraph on Saturday, Starmer told the Prime Minister to “get Brexit done” and said Labour would support the internal market bill if the government addresses “substantial cross-party concerns”.

Hodge also discussed antisemitism in the Labour Party and the investigation by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission at today’s online conference, as well as the electoral strategy for the party.

She commended Starmer for apologising to the Panorama whistleblowers, sacking Rebecca Long-Bailey, talking to Jewish groups and promising to implement the recommendations of the EHRC report when published.

But Hodge stressed to attendees at the event that the challenge for Labour is not “regaining the moral high ground” but to “reconnect” with voters who deserted the party at the general election last year.

She argued: “Getting our own house in order by eradicating antisemitism is only the first step. It allows us to enter the conversation of politics in a clean way again.

“But the task of building the trust of the people whose confidence we need to secure their votes and win power will be much more difficult, much more challenging and much more uncertain.”

On voters who feel neglected by Labour, Hodge said “our concerns don’t reflect their lives”. In comments likely to attract criticism, she added: “We focus on issues like feminism, transsexuals, neo-capitalism, and that doesn’t touch the lives and the experience of ordinary people.”

The MP told viewers that she was optimistic about Labour’s chances for three reasons: a vacuum in the centre ground is a “massive opportunity”; voting patterns are now very volatile; and the party has a “credible” leader.

The online meeting was the second session of a three-part convention held by Labour to Win, the collaborative project launched by Corbynsceptic groups Progress and ‘old-right’ Labour First earlier this year.