Caller brands Labour Party 'cowardly' for abstaining on tier system vote
1 December 2020, 15:53
Caller says Labour Party is 'cowardly' for abstaining on tier system vote
This is the moment a caller labelled the Labour Party as being "cowardly" for abstaining in today's Commons vote on the Covid tier system.
Jill from Cornwall made the remark after Sir Keir Starmer announced that his party would abstain in the vote on the new tier system, as it comes into force on tomorrow at the end of the national lockdown.
Responding to the Labour leader's statement, a No 10 spokesperson said Sir Keir should work with the government and accused him of offering "no leadership at all" during the coronavirus crisis.
However, ahead of the vote, the Labour leader said he remained "deeply concerned" that the Government had failed to use this latest lockdown to put a credible health and economic plan in place."
Theo explains why Labour is set to abstain form Covid restriction vote later
Speaking to LBC's Shelagh Fogarty, Jill said: "If they have the courage of their convictions and they don't support it, they should back away from it and then maybe things can be changed.
"But if they feel that they cannot, I think it's so cowardly to abstain. I'm sorry, we pay these MPs huge salaries to make decisions that we don't have to or don't want to make."
Boris Johnson announces £1,000 payment for 'wet pubs'
Later on in the exchange, Jill said: "I feel incredibly sorry for Boris because this is a position that a Prime Minister has never been in and everything is like a new step to him.
"It's like a step into the darkness. Everything he does is going to be examined really closely because we've never been down this road before."
