TrotsApp’s deafening silence over Putin’s invasion last night hasn’t gone unnoticed, not least by those who happen to sit on Labour’s own frontbench. Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey this morning slammed Diane Abbott for her usual criticism of ‘NATO expansion’, and essentially blamed Abbott for falling for Russian propaganda. Abbott was the Shadow Home Secretary just two years ago…
Speaking to LBC’s Nick Ferrari, Healey said Abbott was
“…An entirely marginal voice. NATO is a defensive alliance, the aggression comes from Putin, we’ve seen that with 180,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders. And to fall for that is to fall for the Russian propaganda. The disinformation rather than the diplomacy that Putin has been pursuing in the last few months.”
When reminded of Abbott’s previous title, Healey simply said “indeed, and that’s changed. Keir Starmer is in charge now, Jeremy Corbyn is not a Labour MP…”. Diane is still happily in possession of the Labour whip, though.
During a feisty outburst against Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey, Ben Wallace accused HM Armed Forces of previously fighting “illegal wars”. This could end up being a resigning issue…
Arguing in the Commons, Wallace claimed much of the mess the government is currently trying to clean up today:
“is because of your [Labour’s] illegal wars, your events in the past”
The clearly unplanned outburst was met with an audibly loud intake of breath. It’s also worth noting that those “illegal” wars were voted for by many sitting Tory MPs, including the PM…
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have never been ruled to be illegal. It is certainly not the position of the current government that they were. Wallace lost his temper and has disrespected the fighting men and women of this country. He should at the very least apologise for his wrongful outburst…
Guido has asked the Ministry of Defence for an official comment on the Minister’s views.
UPDATE: You’ll never guess who actually voted for military intervention in Iraq as an MSP…
Shadow Secretary of State for Housing John Healey told newly defected TIG MP Angela Smith that she and her six colleagues should face by-elections. It’s time for a People’s Vote…
UPDATE: John McDonnell has also called for the Centrist Seven to face by-elections…
John Healey had an Urgent Question this morning demanding to know why the government hasn’t provided additional funds for fire safety post-Grenfell:
“The Secretary of State has refused any government funds for essential fire safety work… can he confirm… there will be no government funding for councils or housing associations for essential retrofit fire safety work?”
When the boot was on the other foot in 2009, the then Housing minister John Healey was asked the same question in the wake of the Lakanal House fire. Guess what. Healey said no to any additional funds for fire safety:
“The resources local authorities receive for management and maintenance and major repairs should enable them to implement necessary fire safety measures in council housing.”
Hansard never forgets…
Shadow housing minister John Healey and veteran Labour MP Margaret Hodge have condemned John McDonnell’s remarks on the Grenfell tragedy, which he described as “murder” caused by “political decisions“. Hodge said on the Daily Politics: “that is language of the hard left which is not done in my name”. Still, good to rile up the nutters online.
