John McTernan is a Blairite who is not afraid to speak his mind. On this week’s View from 22 podcast, the former Labour special advisor discusses the state of Labour’s leadership contest with Isabel and me. He believes the right of the party is struggling as it failed to put forward a suitably experienced candidate ‘because David Miliband left the Commons in the last Parliament’:
‘If David had stayed and served in Ed’s shadow cabinet, David would have been the candidate wouldn’t he? There wouldn’t have really been a contest and I think the vagaries of people’s personal career choices has a big impact on where we are.’
McTernan describes the nomination of Jeremy Corbyn by Labour MPs as ‘self-indulgent’ and still doesn’t think he will win. But if Corbyn is victorious, McTernan says he should be removed immediately:
‘I can’t see any case for letting him have two minutes in office, let alone two years in office because I think the damage that will be done to the Labour party in that period makes it incredibly hard to recover … it just beggars belief that there isn’t something that, in the unlikely event Corbyn wins, there is something is done swiftly and quickly to restore the party to its sense.’
‘How the Labour party in the twenty first century, at a time when Putin is at his most aggressive, can consider electing a leader who would take us out of Nato I have no idea, genuinely no idea —somebody who cannot fund his promises; doesn’t even pretend to fund his promises. Why is that acceptable for the Labour party and why party members of all sorts think that is acceptable to the electorate I have no idea.’
But what if the party’s grassroots were unhappy at this? McTernan doesn’t think they matter:
Shiraz Socialist 
s4r4hbrown said,
July 30, 2015 at 5:55 am
I’m not going to vote for him, but I think it would be disastrous to depose him if he wins – and that ‘strange psychological emotional spasm’ stuff is very patronising. The problem of his not being able to control the LP should have been thought about by those who gave him their signature without really supporting him.
Steven Johnston said,
August 1, 2015 at 12:50 pm
All he believes in is very meat & potatoes statism. Is there much difference to what he is saying now and to what Harold Wilson was saying in the 60’s?
Scott Reeve said,
July 30, 2015 at 9:33 am
The Labour party membership have lost confidence in the leadership. The leadership must elect a new Labour Party membership.
Glasgow Working Class said,
July 30, 2015 at 4:03 pm
Loonie lefties and Burnham get upset because the PM uses the word swarm. What do those idiots have to offer.
pinkie said,
July 30, 2015 at 6:16 pm
John McTernan is a staggering success, apparently, apart from the demise of Labour MPs in Scotland for which he, of course, has no responsibility. We can only look forward to his next success, apparently. Is he still being paid for his ‘skills’?
Glasgow Working Class said,
July 30, 2015 at 8:53 pm
pinkie Labour were elected when they went middle of the road. They are out now because they wanted to represent a minority. The SNP are right wing and Nat sis fundamentalists.
Jim Denham said,
July 31, 2015 at 10:51 am
A somewhat more measured and rational response from a Labour right winger (Luke Akehurst at Labour List): http://labourlist.org/2015/07/where-is-jeremy-corbyns-support-coming-from/
representingthemambo said,
August 3, 2015 at 6:50 pm
It’s certainly a lot more measured than the horrible McCarthyite red-baiting nonsense he used to write when I last crossed swords with him a couple of years ago and in some respects it’s a refreshingly honest perspective from a committed, albeit often quite obnoxious right winger. If he thinks Corbyn could win then JC clearly has a chance, and it does give the impression that he would actually respect the decision, which also surprises me.
On a side note I’m slightly surprised and disappointed at some of the ambivalence and slightly sneering tone toward the corbyn campaign on the comments pages here. Jeremy Corbyn isn’t the Messiah but this election is the most important development in the labour party in my lifetime. A win for him would be a huge shot in the arm for the left in this country. I was at the BIrmingham rally yesterday and it felt like for the first time in a long time the establishment’s political narrative is going to be properly challenged. That is a seriously big deal. And it also demonstrates pretty decisively that all these clowns pissing about standing candidates against the Labour Party for the last however many years have been wasting their time and money.
John R said,
July 31, 2015 at 2:58 pm
It looks like John McTernan is wanting a Labour Party civil war. To what end, I don’t know but unless he wants an SDP style split, I don’t see a rational motive for an attempted “coup” of this sort.
Meanwhile, I suspect Jeremy is going all late 70s Italian Eurocommunist (PCI) on us (with a dash of modern triangulation).
First we have his “re-interpretation” of his support for Hamas and Hisbollah. Now, these meetings with them are part of Jeremy’s search for peace and discussion. Then, he came out in support of staying in the EU despite making, imo, CPB style anti-EU viewpoints. If I were a cynical man, I’d say he and his team realise the anti-Zionist PSC types and anti-EU Labour have no one else to back so he can, by moderating his views, he can broaden his appeal.
Then, we have his interview in the New Statesman, where Jeremy says re NATO – “I’d rather not be in it.”. Now, this not exactly a “Smash Nato now!” and, along with his “Nuclear weapons are immoral” statement could leave the door open to comprise.
Remember the PCI in the 70s quoting Lenin vis a vis right wing trade unions and why Communists should stay there. They used the same logic regarding staying in NATO saying a PCI govt could neutralise or veto reactionary tendencies within that organisation. It’s not unreasonable to imagine Jeremy arguing the same regarding NATO in the Middle East. Although, I stil think it’s unlikely he’d go multilateralist over the Bomb. But who knows?
I liked the Luke Akehurst article that Jim linked to and found much to agree with there. I can just imagine in 15 years time interviews with Labour MPs reminiscing about being young Corbynistas.
As to who should be Leader, none of them inspire much confidence at the moment. At least with Corbyn and Kendall, you know what you’re getting. With Cooper and Burnham, what they say seems to have been put through a very long focus group colon where anything of substance has disappeared and we just hear what’s left.
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/07/jeremy-corbyn-interview-i-think-we-have-think-terms-disillusioned-who-didn-t-vote
Political tourist said,
August 1, 2015 at 2:57 am
I thought AWL would have loved McTernan, wasn’t he the chosen one during the Scottish Referendum.
Oh sorry after slaying the Jocks the comrades don’t like the same done to them.
Glasgow Working Class said,
August 1, 2015 at 9:41 pm
McTernan did not play a great role in the referendum. The Jocks were not slayed. I thought George Galloway debated well at public events although the main media kept their distance from him. Apparantly Salmond refused a public debate with him and that was probably wise as Galloway would have destroyed him.
redkorat☭ (@red_korat) said,
August 1, 2015 at 9:46 pm
McTernan did great work for the ALP on his gap year too. The arsehole used to pop up on political panel shows, then one day, he faded from view leaving nothing but his anus — and then it too was gone
Glasgow Working Class said,
August 2, 2015 at 6:48 pm
History sometimes comes back and bites your arse.
james12 said,
August 3, 2015 at 3:54 am
Who with a serious mind care would believe Tony .
Glasgow Working Class said,
August 4, 2015 at 12:01 am
If you mean Tony Blair then you should believe him. The Fascist Islamists are still fighting and have not won. I am sure history will be kind to Blair. Some people thought Adolf was a good bloke.