Labour frontbenchers have been struggling to defend their leader's decision to whip his MPs into abstaining on Tuesday's crucial lockdown vote. Ed Miliband was grilled on Radio 4 this morning in a tense exchange with Mishal Husain, while Lucy Powell did battle with TalkRadio's Julia Hartley-Brewer ahead of the vote. Hartley-Brewer rightly accused Labour of 'moral cowardice' by refusing to accept responsibility either way and the shadow business minister struggled to provide a valid counter-argument. In suggesting that her party had abstained in order for the measures to pass, Powell only confirmed Hartley-Brewer's accusation.
Pathetic, and this from an MP who represents a tier 3 constituency, no less. Labour will rue the day they abstained on this and in doing so failed to score a famous victory for jobs and businesses.
Click below for Powell's exceptionally poor account of this dereliction of duty.
