Labour MPs have denied a newspaper report claiming that Jeremy Corbyn walked out of a Christmas party after politicians sang the New Labour anthem Things Can Only Get Better and chanted “We want Tony”. One Labour veteran reportedly sang The Beatles’ “Back In The USSR” in a jibe at the Labour leader’s perceived inaction over the Syrian city of Aleppo, which has been devastated by Russian and Syrian bombing.
Labour MPs reassured the Guardian that both songs did feature at the party, but added that there was only “light-hearted ribbing”, and denied that it led to a walkout by Corbyn. Jess Phillips, the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, tweeted:
Can I just say as someone who was there this did not happen https://t.co/iPTZkBpD3y
— Jess Phillips MP (@jessphillips) December 18, 2016
The report of the party in the Mail on Sunday included a video purportedly showing the Labour MPs singing the D:Ream song – strongly associated with Tony Blair’s 1997 election victory – at the Westminster Kitchen in central London.
The newspaper reported that one person also shouted “We want Tony”, adding that soon after Corbyn and his allies Shami Chakrabarti and Richard Burgon left “amid jeers”.
Burgon also denied the report, tweeting: “Public deserve political news – not tedious (and untrue) tittle tattle from the Daily Mail on our Christmas ‘do’.”
A spokesperson for the Labour leader said he went to several events that night. “He was at the party for a couple of hours. There was no storming out.”
