Labour Party Tensions Evident At Local Fundraiser

Local MP Ruth Cadbury says she was heckled by pro-Corbyn supporters

Local MP Ruth Cadbury was heckled by supporters of Jeremy Corbyn who wanted to know how she voted in the 'no confidence vote' against the party leader Jeremy Corbyn. The incident happened at a Labour fundraiser in Chiswick at the George VI pub.

The MP for Brentford & Isleworth told chiswickw4.com that the heckling started as she walked through the door to make her speech. She said the atmosphere was "intimidating."

However the organiser of the event, Crispin Flintoff said that the reports of the heckling were exaggerated and that of the 190 people present, only a handful had been involved in the interruption.

Minutes earlier Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell had made a rousing speech calling for unity and saying that the Labour Party leader would not be resigning. He described the Parliamentary Party Labour meeting as "appalling".You can watch his speech here.

When Ms Cadbury tried to speak a small group of hecklers demanded to know which way Ms Cadbury had voted in the 'no confidence' motion. When she said that it was only fair that she would be revealing this to party members first, the heckling continued.

"I don't have a problem with people who disagree with me but there were people there who were not interested in dialogue."

Some of those shouting were wearing pro-Corbyn teeshirts. The organisers tried to calm the atmosphere and there were shouts of ' Let her speak'.

Ms. Cadbury said that she did not feel she was there to answer questions -"It was a comedy night, not a hustings".

Some people took to Twitter to voice their disapproval of the heckling. One said "went to my first 'stand up for labour' event in chiswick tonight, bullying and heckling of you by a few members unacceptable"

Organiser of the event Crispin Flintoff, is also now putting on a tour of the country for Jeremy Corbyn, #JC4PM.

As well as John McDonnell, the event featured comedy from John Moloney, and singer Grace Petrie. There was poetry reading from Attila the Stockbroker and magician Ian Saville also performed.

July 1, 2016