Why Is Corbyn Propping Up The Conservative Government, Asks James O'Brien

6 June 2018, 10:30 | Updated: 6 June 2018, 12:37

James O'Brien believes the government would have fallen if they lost their Brexit vote, so why is Jeremy Corbyn propping them up?

Theresa May looked like she could lose next week's vital Brexit vote as a number of Conservative rebels ignored the whip on the Lords' amendment regarding the European Economic Area.

But Jeremy Corbyn has tabled a different amendment which the rebels won't back, meaning that the government is likely to get the vote through.

Back on his LBC show after a well-deserved break, James admits he has no idea what Corbyn is up to... and he doesn't think the Labour leader knows either.

James O'Brien in the LBC studio
James O'Brien in the LBC studio. Picture: LBC

He said: "I can't imagine a wider open goal than this current government.

"Summed up by the existence of Chris Grayling. A man like Chris Grayling holding two or three of the highest offices in the land is, for historians of the future, going to be absolutely impossible to explain.

"The Prime Minister is so fundamentally enfeebled by this Brexit Horlicks that she has no power over anybody whatsoever.

"And yet the Leader of the Opposition seems to be to be faffing about, Morris dancing on the deck of the ship that Theresa May is still steering.

"I'm going to say it out loud: if Labour whipped on the EEA amendment, that could have brought down the government.

"But Corbyn and Keir Starmer have decided not to do that.

"The Conservative rebels - or as we should call them, Conservative patriots who put their country ahead of their own party - could have been persuaded to vote for that EEA amendment.

"They're not going to vote for an amendment put before the House by the Leader of the Opposition. Not least because the Leader of the Opposition, in my humble opinion, doesn't know what he's playing at.

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