IAN Murray has insisted he will not sign a “loyalty pledge” to Jeremy Corbyn.
The Edinburgh South Labour MP said instead of trying to get politicians to back the commitment to “work for the achievement of a Labour-led government under whatever leadership members elect”, the party’s chiefs should be focused on trying to resolve the Brexit stalemate.
The UK is due to formally leave the European Union next month, yet Theresa May has been unable to secure a parliamentary majority for her withdrawal deal.
Meanwhile, some Remain-supporting Labour MPs, including Murray, continue to push for a fresh EU referendum to be held.
A number of Labour frontbenchers, including shadow chancellor John McDonnell, shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey and shadow education secretary Angela Rayner, have tweeted the pledge, which states: “I pledge to work for the achievement of a Labour-led government under whatever leadership members elect. And I accept a Labour-led government is infinitely better than any other election outcome.”
The pledge comes amid speculation that dissatisfaction with Jeremy Corbyn’s stance on Brexit could result in some MPs quitting the party.
Midlothian MP Danielle Rowley retweeted the pledge with the comment: “Well, of course! A Labour Government, changing lives for the better is what we are here for.” Glasgow North MP Paul Sweeney said: “I fully agree.”
Murray, a former shadow Scottish secretary, described the pledge as being a “little bit ridiculous”.
He told the BBC’s Sunday Politics Scotland programme that his loyalty to the Labour party “should never be in question”.
Murray stated: “My pledge is every single weekend when I am out knocking on doors, delivering leaflets, staffing street stalls and doing my advice sessions with my constituents, that is my pledge to the Labour Party. I think these kind of pledge things are a little bit ridiculous, in my view. I won’t be signing it for a number of reasons, firstly because I think it is unnecessary and secondly it asks for a Labour led government – I think we need a Labour majority government.”
Murray, the only Scottish Labour MP to keep his seat when the SNP won all but three seats in Scotland in the 2015 general election, added: “We should be getting on with the task of trying to resolve this Brexit issue, which is number one on the agenda at the moment.”
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