Jeremy Corbyn mocked for pathetic Brexit rallying cry Jeremy Corbyn has been mercilessly mocked for saying the real fight starts now after MPs overwhelmingly voted to back Brexit.
The Labour leader took to social media after the Commons vote, in which the majority of his party backed the Government, to say he would now begin work to make a success of Britian’s departure from the EU.
The futility of Mr Corbyn’s so-called fight was summed up in a series of memes on social media.
He has faced a number of resignations from his Shadow Cabinet from Labour MPs who refused to follow the party whip in voting with the Government to trigger Article 50, which begins the Brexit process.
In total, 162 Labour MPs backed triggering Article 50 while 52 voted against and 13 did not vote. Overall, the Bill it was passed by 494 votes to 122 – a majority of 372.
Mr Corbyn was branded pathetic by the SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon for voting with the Government, despite not managing to pass any amendments to the Bill.
The Tories have said Mr Corbyn is leading a hopelessly divided party . Senior frontbencher Clive Lewis quit Labour’s top team to vote against the Bill.
But Mr Corbyn, whose team earlier denied rumours he was preparing to resign, appeared to leave the door open for his ally’s return to the shadow cabinet at some point, remarking: I wish Clive well and look forward to working with him in the future.
Asked if the comment meant Mr Lewis could serve again in Mr Corbyn’s top team, a Labour source said the they wouldn’t rule anything out.
Mr Corbyn said he understood the dilemma facing Labour MPs in Remain-voting seats but insisted the vote showed Labour backs the referendum result.
Labour has demonstrated that we respect the result of the referendum by voting to begin negotiations to leave the EU, with the overwhelming majority of Labour MPs supporting our party’s position, he said.
In recent weeks, Labour has forced the Government to reveal what their plan for Brexit actually is.