'It's a disgrace!' Chuka Umunna hits out at trolling of 'Blairite' Clive Lewis
CHUKA Umunna has slammed Labour trolls for targeting Clive Lewis online following his speech at the party’s conference.
Chuka Umunna HITS OUT at Labour trolls
The Shadow Defence Secretary is reportedly thought to have punched a wall after being told to remove a line pledging support for the Trident nuclear deterrent moments before taking to the stage in Liverpool.
It has since led to Mr Lewis being subjected to abuse on social media.
“Your speech packed a punch,” said one user on Twitter, while another called Mr Lewis a “far-right, Blairite Tory”.
But his colleague Mr Umunna, MP for Streatham, jumped to his defence on LBC this morning branding the trolling a “disgrace”.
To call Clive Lewis a Blairite and start abusing him because he dares to assert the policy of the party is frankly a disgrace
He said: "The abuse that the Shadow Defence Secretary Clive Lewis has now had on social media... all these stupid labels – Blairite.
“The people who are so anti-Blair are the ones who bang on about him more than anyone else. Tony Blair stopped being the leader of the Labour party almost 10 years ago.
“And to call Clive Lewis a Blairite and start abusing him because he dares to assert the policy of the party is frankly a disgrace.”
The radio appearance comes after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn cancelled his media interviews this morning. Host Nick Ferrari asked if it had anything to do with the reports of wall-punching.
“I’m not sure,” replied Mr Umunna. “I’m a humble backbencher you know.
“I’ve got no idea but I’ll just say this of Clive Lewis – I think what Clive has sought to do on this difficult issue, which divides the movement – it’s not just like members versus the MPs – two of our biggest unions are in favour of the renewal of Trident, Unite and GMB – both of which I’m a member.
“It doesn’t cut simply in our party and what he has said is we’ve got to settle our position on this.”
Mr Umunna, who rose to prominence when he decided to run for Labour leader but pulled out three days later, said there were members of his party that would be “quite happy” to continue rowing over its stance.
He added: “What Clive has said is look, it’s settled, we need to come together, we need to take disagreement off the table.”
Mr Lewis told supporters at the conference that Britain would keep the Trident nuclear deterrent despite Mr Corbyn’s wish to scrap it.
He said: "As you know, I am sceptical about Trident renewal, as are many here.
"But I am clear that our party has a policy for Trident renewal."