EU referendum, brexit and the aftermath

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Oliver Schick in reply to @aggi

The easiest thing for Corbyn would have been to leave it as an open vote to the Labour party members rather than a three line whip. He could have made it clear that it wasn't just a party politics issue and that he wanted members to have the freedom to vote with their conscience/their constituents.

Again, I think that would have been exploited to create the impression (a) that Corbyn's a weak leader and (b) that Labour's anti-Brexit.

I suspect a lot would have voted in line with their constituents and it wouldn't really make a difference but it would have avoided all the bad publicity of Diane Abbott disappearing off ill and influential members defying the whip.

I think those are extremely minor stories that won't damage the party.

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aggi in reply to @Oliver Schick

I guess it's hard to tell without it happening. Personally I think having over 50 MPs ignore a three line whip makes Corbyn appear a weak leader whereas an open vote could have been spun to make it appear his choice.

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Oliver Schick in reply to @aggi

I think it's damage limitation. That MPs in Remain constituencies voted against comes across quite well, I think. Obviously, Corbyn's in a Remain constituency himself (as is Diane Abbott), but I think his choice to vote in favour as party leader is again quite communicable.

Again, I'm not saying any of this is good or pretty, but I think they navigated these minefields quite well and avoided serious political long-term damage.

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