Why Ian Murray, not Jeremy Corbyn, should be Labour leader – Helen Martin

After an unsuccessful attempt to deselect Labour MP Ian Murray in Edinburgh South, Helen Martin voices her outrage at the union behind the move.

WHEN I next vote I will face an internal struggle . . . will it be Ian Murray or SNP? Politically, I’d go for SNP. But for a great MP, it would be Ian Murray.

He’s heavily involved with constituents and their concerns. He replies rapidly to every email he’s sent.

He sends out a regular, award-winning newsletter which confirms in a pie-chart how much time he’s spent on every aspect of his work, reports on local concerns, replies to general enquiries, and contains photographs of local events and charities. Extra newsletters have appeared updating Brexit issues.

In that respect, he behaves like someone who is paid to do a job and reports to his employers, his constituents.

It’s an attitude we’d love every MP to share, but few see their “status” that way and many see themselves as arrogant rulers. He works for everyone, whether they’ve voted for him or not, because he sees that as his job, to represent all people in Edinburgh South as much as possible whether they’re Greens, Lib Dems, Tories or Nationalists.

He is one of the best, most logical, brightest MPs in Labour, trying as hard as possible to get a People’s Vote, which is what the UK desperately needs, and I’d rather see him at the top than Corbyn.

Why the Unite trade union and its members felt they even had the right to consider “deselecting” him was nonsense when it comes to democracy.

If they’d done that he would have stood as an independent. . . which would probably have given him an advantage over Labour. Thank God he’s been reselected despite union opposition – though I may still wind up tearing my voting-self apart.