Outgoing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has rejected the idea of a multi-party national unity government with the Conservatives, in order to effectively combat the coronavirus pandemic.
While speaking to The Telegraph on Thursday, Corbyn cautioned against proposals for the Labour Party to participate in a unity government on the basis that it is the job of opposition parties to the ruling government accountable.
“It’s the duty of opposition parties to hold it to account, and that is exactly what we’re doing", Mr Corbyn
“I think we should be challenging the government and challenging them on the economic response, challenging them on job security, and that is the way to get better government and better decisions"
“If everybody got together and said ‘we’re all absolutely in this together we won’t criticise each other’ – that is a negation of what our democratic society is about", he added.
The comments by the Labour leader come as Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford invited Welsh Conservatives and nationalists into a unity government in order to combat the coronavirus crisis.
Last Tuesday, Conservative MP George Freeman called for a cross-party 'Covid cabinet' government to be established, following the results of the Labour leadership election, which will see the selection of Corbyn's successor.
This pandemic changes everything.
— George Freeman MP (@GeorgeFreemanMP) March 22, 2020
Including politics.
As the scale of the National Emergency deepens we will need much more cross-party leadership.
When we have a serious leader of the Opposition we should invite @Keir_Starmer to Covid COBRA, Cabinet & joint No10 briefings. https://t.co/gorIJykyw9
Current Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer is the favourite to win the race, the results of which will be announced on Saturday morning, who would then become the Leader of the Opposition and a new cabinet likely to follow.
The UK currently has 33,718 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with estimates by the National Health Service (NHS) saying that he number is actually much higher. 2,921 people in the UK are confirmed to have died from the virus.
