Alastair Campbell blames Labour’s failure to confront Brexit for Conservative majority

The former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell has blamed a failure of Labour to confront Brexit alongside a culture of nastiness in the party for the Conservative Partys landslide majority. Photo: ITV - Credit: Archant

The former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell has blamed a failure of Labour to confront Brexit alongside a culture of nastiness in the party for the Conservative Party’s landslide majority.

Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Campbell pointed to reactions to Labour’s spending pledges, divisions in the Labour party, and Corbyn being “dragged kicking and screaming” into his policy on Brexit for their worst result since 1935.

He said: “I think that if you go right back through parliament, Brexit has been a problem for the party. I think it’s not just about the divisions that you’ve just seen played out, it’s also this sense of Jeremy Corbyn being dragged kicking and screaming into a position he was never very comfortable with.

“But also I think not confronting the issue of Brexit, trying to kind of face two ways on it. And then I do think also anti-Semitism became a real problem for the party – it sort of spoke to this nastiness inside the Labour party which Corbyn’s leadership allowed to enter and develop.”

Campbell continued: “I think on the economy, yes Labour is right their were lots of things on the manifesto people liked, but I think there was a sense it was to some extent not credible.”

Campbell then got in a spat with host Piers Morgan after Morgan asked how much he took responsibility for leading the People’s Vote alongside Tony Blair, adding that this election was effectively a People’s Vote.

“Did you listen to what I said?” Campbell replied. “I accept it. Piers I don’t know if you understand how democracy works, but if you lose an election it doesn’t necessarily mean you agree with everything they have done.”

He continued: “In a democracy you have to fight for what you believe in. Boris Johnson has fought for what he believes in and he’s won.

“He’s now got a mandate to take his withdrawal agreement through. Does that mean I have to stand here and say I think that’s a great thing for the country? No I don’t.”