The Labour party are not in high spirits today after their election campaign was derailed by the ex-Labour MP, Ian Austin, who this morning urged ‘decent, patriotic’ Labour voters to back Boris Johnson at the election because of Labour’s continued problems with anti-Semitism.
Deeply unhappy with the news was Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, Diane Abbott, who moaned on Twitter about the ‘wall-to-wall coverage’ Austin’s statement was receiving, which she compared to the silence that had greeted Ken Clarke’s admission that he would not vote Conservative:
Ian Austin, 1 year as a junior minister at DCLG, says he won't vote for Labour.
Wall-to-wall coverage.
Ken Clarke, 9 years as Secretary of State, including as Chancellor, says he won't vote for the Conservatives.
Silence.
Balanced election coverage?
— Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) November 7, 2019
Perhaps though there might be a simpler reason Clarke’s comments were not reported: mainly because he has never actually said he won’t vote for the Tories.
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