Ed Miliband squirms as BBC host shames Labour Party over Covid tiers vote abstention
ED MILIBAND was put on the spot as BBC Today host Mishal Husain shamed the Labour Party for abstaining from a crucial vote on the new coronavirus tiers restrictions.
Ed Miliband insisted the Labour Party had wanted to show its support for restrictions but signal its criticism of the financial support made available to struggling businesses in Tier 2 and Tier 3. BBC Today presenter Mishal Husain however warned the decision to abstain from the vote could send the wrong signal to Britons seeking help from politicians to recover from the crisis. The BBC host said: "Let’s turn to last night’s vote in the House of Commons.
"That was really about how tens of millions of people who live in England are going to live their lives in the foreseeable future.
"On something as important as that, Labour was neither for nor against the new restrictions."
Mr Miliband said Labour's position on the tier system remained "clear" as he urged the Government to outline its plans to support struggling businesses.
He said: "I’ll tell you very clearly what our position was, that we support health measures and that’s why we didn’t vote against the regulations last night but we are deeply worried about the lack of economic support right across the sectors in trouble.
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"And there’s a secret document circulating around Whitehall naming the sectors that have a red rating, with traffic lights flashing red.
"The Government isn’t coming clear about that. But more to the point, they’ve got to provide the support commensurate with the scale of the crisis."
The response did not appear to appease Ms Husain, who pointed out some Labour MPs managed to successfully display their disappointment in the measures while taking part in the vote.
She said: "And for exactly that reason, there were Labour MPs who decided they were not going to obey the whip and decided that, because of their consciences, because of the Government approach being inadequate, they voted against."
Labour ‘cowardly’ for abstaining tier vote says radio caller
Labour has faced many accusations of "cowardice" since leader Sir Keir Starmer announced on Monday party members would be ordered to abstain from the vote.
Radio caller Jill from Cornwall was left enraged by Labour's decision as she pointed out Britons pay MPs "huge salaries" to make a decision on behalf of their voters.
She told LBC radio: "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."
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Jill added: "I'm sorry, we pay these MPs huge salaries to make decisions that we don't have to or don't want to make."
"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."