Reynolds left with egg on his face, as Stalybridge CLP votes for Corbyn!

JUST GOOD FRIENDS:

REYNOLDS (RIGHT); WITH STUART HALL AND LORD PENDRY

Although he increased his majority at the General Election in May, Jonathan Reynolds MP, who represents the constituency of Stalybridge and Hyde, is becoming rather gaffe prone like his mentor and predecessor, James (work-for-your-dole) Purnell.

Only recently, the hapless Blairite MP, was lobbying to get his mate Peter Mandelson elected as Chancellor of his alma mater, Manchester University. Dubbed the Prince of Darkness, Mandelson came last in the election losing to Lemn Sissay, a black poet from Wigan. 

If this wasn't bad enough, Reynolds has now been left with egg on his face over who should be elected the next Labour leader. While the two other Tameside MPs, Andrew Gwynne and Angela Rayner, are supporting the weak and vacillating Andy Burnham, Reynolds has opted to support the no-hoper, Blairite, pro-business, Liz Kendal. Labour Party members in his constituency, received a letter from Reynolds asking them to vote for Kendal. However, despite receiving the letter, the Stalybridge and Hyde Constituency Labour Party (CLP), voted overwhelmingly for the left-wing candidate, Jeremy Corbyn.

Despite attacks on Corbyn and his supporters, the veteran MP for Islington North, is winning over young people who are flocking to packed meetings around the country. Last week, Corbyn announced on the BBC2 Newsnight programme, that should he be elected leader, he would push for Tony Blair to be prosecuted for war crimes.

Meanwhile, interim Labour leader, Harriet Harman, who called on Labour MPs to support the Government's welfare bill, which will cut benefits and child tax credits for working families, has written to every Labour MP with the names of people in their constituency who have registered as supporters of the Labour Party since the election. Harman wants them to weed out 'entryists' on the Left and Right or known 'troublemakers', who she believes have joined the party to disrupt the leadership contest.

During the recent vote on the welfare bill, all three Tameside MPs, Reynolds, Gwynne and Angela Rayner, a former care worker and UNISON Branch Secretary from Stockport, chose to abstain in order to allow the government to introduce the bill which is aimed at cutting £12bn from social security spending. It was recently reported in the Daily Mirror that the Government was sitting on a surplus of £30bn in the National Insurance fund and yet, still found it necessary, to cut benefits for working families. Jeremy Corbyn, was one of 48 Labour MPs who voted against the welfare bill.