Esther McVey publicly called on John McDonnell to apologise for joking about her being ‘lynched’
Esther McVey last night publicly called on John McDonnell to apologise for joking about her being ‘lynched’.
In her first major comments on the row, the Work and Pensions Secretary said the shadow chancellor had effectively ‘given permission’ for a Labour hate mob to target her online.
Ms McVey said even Labour MPs had told her he should apologise. She also condemned Jeremy Corbyn for promising a ‘kinder, gentler’ politics and then promoting Mr McDonnell.
In her first interview since her remarkable Cabinet comeback, the 50-year-old former television presenter also told Tory colleagues they should ‘rally around’ Theresa May but refused to rule out a possible leadership bid in the future.
Miss McVey was the most high-profile Tory casualty of the 2015 general election when she was ousted in Wirral West following a nasty union-backed campaign. Mr McDonnell, who was a backbencher at the time, has repeatedly refused to apologise for joking at a comedy night in November 2014 how people in the seat wanted to kill Miss McVey.
To applause, he said: ‘I was up in Liverpool where Alec McFadden, one of our [union] organisers, launched the Sack Esther McVey Day on her birthday. I spoke at a packed public meeting… there was a whole group in the audience that completely kicked off quite critical of the whole concept, because they were arguing “Why are sacking her? Why aren’t we lynching the b*****d?”’
Miss McVey returned to parliament last June after replacing George Osborne in the Tatton seat in Cheshire and was promoted to Cabinet as Work and Pensions Secretary in Theresa May’s reshuffle last month.
But within hours, Labour supporters reopened their nasty online campaign against her with a barrage of disgusting messages. Last night, Miss McVey said the Labour Party had resorted to personal attacks because it is ‘devoid of ideas’.
‘This is about bullying and intimidation and it’s three-fold,’ she said. ‘It is about trying to prevent anybody having a different opinion. The second thing this ongoing perpetual abuse tries to do is undermine and smear somebody’s character.
‘And then the third bit is to deter anybody else from walking down that path – and that is not going to be me.’
The Work and Pensions Secretary said John McDonnell (pictured) had effectively ‘given permission’ for a Labour hate mob to target her online
Miss McVey said Mr McDonnell’s refusal to apologise for his ‘lynching’ remarks, had signalled to Labour supporters that it was acceptable to resort to hateful attacks.
‘What enabled people and permitted them to bully me online was the words of John McDonnell, because that gave permission,’ she said.
‘He has to look at his actions and apologise. The only person who does not think he should apologise is John McDonnell.
‘Labour MPs come to me privately and say he should apologise. And when Corbyn said he wants a gentler, kinder politics and yet he promoted this man afterwards to be their shadow chancellor, they have got to reflect on that.’
Miss McVey, who started her ministerial career at the Department for Work and Pensions in 2012, said attempts to smear her showed Labour had lost the argument on policies. ‘When you’re devoid of ideas, then it is far easier just to diminish me, which is what the abuse is,’ she said. ‘It’s about diminishing me in the eyes of other people.’
Turning to Brexit, she said Tory MPs need to rally around Theresa May to get the best deal or they will never be forgiven by voters.
But she refused to rule herself out from standing in any potential Tory leadership contest.
Asked about divisions in the party over Brexit, Miss McVey said: ‘Some of the stuff I’ve read in the papers seems a bit exaggerated but what you need to do is rally around. Let’s get behind it because I see this as the future of the country not as an individual. Nobody will forgive us if we don’t get the best deal for the country.’
Asked if she would ever run to be Tory leader, she said was supporting Mrs May and her policies ‘all the way’ but added: ‘We’ll take one day at a time.’