David Lammy's Passionate Response When Caller Asks If He'd Quit Labour
18 February 2019, 11:39
When an LBC caller asked David Lammy if he'd join Chuka Umunna and his group of Labour MPs who had quit the party, this was his passionate response.
Seven Labour MPs - Luciana Berger, Mike Gapes, Ann Coffey, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Chuka Umunna and Gavin Shuker - will sit as Independent Group MPs after becoming disillusioned with the current state of the party.
Stuart, who had previously stood as a Labour councillor, asked the Tottenham MP if he would follow suit following his disagreement with the party over a People's Vote.
But Mr Lammy insisted that he felt his position would be stronger if he fought his battle from inside the Labour Party.
Speaking on LBC as he stood in for James O'Brien, David said: "This is a painful, painful moment that we've arrived in this place.
"I'm not the most factional member of the Labour Party. I believe the Labour Party has to be a broad, inclusive church. It has to accommodate views that are varied. That's how you arrive at the best policy position.
"I've had differences with the leadership on the need for a People's Vote, but I haven't felt the need to leave because my views are the views of the Labour Party - 86% of the members want a People's Vote in the Labour Party. It's the fringe, the Lexiters who believe they are going to get this fantastic utopian vision when we leave the European Union that I think are letting the side down because that's not the kind of Brexit that we're getting.
"My dad went to a Labour meeting in the 1960s and was turned away because it wasn't a place that he felt home. He didn't leave the Labour Party. And I ain't leaving the Labour Party.
"I'm determined to stay in and fight for my constituents, to fight for the values I believe in.
"That rubicon has not been crossed for me. My constitutents in Tottenham would be very surprised if I upped-sticks and left at this moment.
"No, I'm going to stick and fight it. I've always been a bit of a fighter."
