Graham Eardley, a political commentator, has shared his views on Jeremy Corbyn's announcement that he will stand down as the head of the Labour Party.
Sputnik: The starting gun has been fired on the race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader as the party becomes engulfed in a bitter row over last week’s election disaster. How significant is this and what does this ‘civil war’ mean for Britain’s biggest opposition party?
Graham Eardley: The London elections are coming up shortly and people are not going to vote for a divided party and a party that they see at war with each other as you saying the question. There are a number of people who have already intimated that they're going to put themselves forward and people in the rest of country outside of London are definitely pro-Brexit - the Labour Party need to take note of this. This is why it lost so many seats outside of the M25.
Sputnik: With the party still reeling from Friday's result; which contenders and figures in Labour are likely to succeed Jeremy Corbyn and lead the party forwards? Will Labour stick with the left-wing politics of Jeremy Corbyn or go back to the centre grounds of New Labour under Tony Blair?
Graham Eardley: Since Jeremy Corbyn's last election, Momentum, which is basically his support group took over the running of the party and you reports that they have taken over the National Executive Committee of The Labour Party however the centrists that are left in Labour seem to be putting forward candidates such as Kier Starmer who is a definite remainer so they seem to be dooming themselves to an ever-increasing period of irrelevance.
Sputnik: If we look at the reasons behind Labour’s defeat, Brexit was certainly the main reason why Labour lost last week’s election with many people in the North of England feeling the party had betrayed the will of the leavers. How important will it be for the party to incorporate Brexit into future policy? Do you think they will support leave going forwards?
Graham Eardley: I don’t think they have any other option. Because of that majority that Boris Johnson managed to obtain for the Conservative Party, that some 80 seats, it is quite possible that time the next election when it comes along we would have left the EU; so they [Labour] will have to work within a nation that has left and there's no way that I can see Labour being mad enough for them trying to get the UK to rejoin the EU or even at that stage a peoples vote which was their policy at this last election.
