Angela Rayner is amongst these having to cancel their Glastonbury plans this weekend after Labour bosses advised employees that no person can take break day for the competition.
The celebration’s deputy chief was scheduled to talk on the competition’s Left Area stage, as was fellow Labour MP Nadia Whittome.
With the celebration into the ultimate week of campaigning earlier than the overall election on July 4, an insider advised The Impartial that no person has been allowed to make the journey to Worthy Farm to see the likes of Coldplay, Dua Lipa, SZA and Shania Twain carry out regardless of Labour’s strong lead within the opinion polls.
They stated there’s a “three-line whip” on employees to not go to Glastonbury, with employees being redeployed to key marginal seats in a bid to extend the celebration’s majority. “Now the manifesto is completed there’s much less for folks to do right here and we’d like boots on the bottom in goal seats,” The Impartial was advised on a go to to Labour headquarters.
It’s a far cry from 2017, when former Labour chief Jeremy Corbyn spoke to an enormous crowd on the Pyramid Stage. But it surely’s not simply Labour MPs who’re dropping out. Caroline Lucas, the previous Inexperienced Occasion chief, is standing down as MP for Brighton Pavilion within the election however has been campaigning for her successor, and has cancelled a Glastonbury look too.
“Late final 12 months after we started planning this 12 months’s Left Area at @GlastoFest, we thought it will be a good suggestion to ask plenty of Labour MPs, provided that there was a robust likelihood that they could be in energy by the top of the 12 months,” stated Billy Bragg, who organises the stage, on Instagram.
“We had roughly confirmed one for every panel when [Rishi] Sunak referred to as the election. Understandably, MPs really feel they must be out campaigning on the final weekend earlier than the poll, so the panels crew led by Rosie Rogers has been working onerous to search out appropriate replacements.”
Bragg advised NME earlier this week (June 25), “After we sat right down to give attention to what we wanted to speak about this 12 months, it helped us that the election was coming and to sprinkle the panels with Labour MPs who would possibly truly be in authorities subsequent 12 months; folks like Angela Rayner.”
Earlier than Rayner needed to pull out, he stated he anticipated her to get an important welcome from festivalgoers given the strain she’s been underneath: “The Every day Mail’s entrance web page, after the Tories completely obtained completely their arses kicked within the native elections, was about Angela Rayner once more. It’s complete sexist bullying. It’s not simply her – Diane Abbott is essentially the most abused MP throughout all events. I believe Angela Rayner will get an enormous response when she involves the Left Area … We attempt to get politicians who’re festival-friendly and placed on a great present.”
Glastonbury Competition started yesterday (June 26) and continues till Sunday (June 30). Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA are set to headline the Pyramid Stage, with Shania Twain taking the legend’s slot. Different artists on the line-up embrace LCD Soundsystem, Little Simz, Avril Lavigne, Idles, Justice, Bloc Occasion, Disclosure and Gossip.
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