A Labour Party MEP has said the party faces being “crucified” at the next general election because of tough decisions being made by the Government.
But Tipperary-based Phil Prendergast said she did not agree with a local colleague, Darren Ryan, who has resigned from the party and accused Labour of turning its back “on the very people it claims to represent”. Mr Ryan is a member of South Tipperary County Council and Clonmel Borough Council.
Ms Prendergast said Labour inherited many problems when it went into Government. “I don’t agree that Labour is turning its back on the people,” she said when asked to comment on her former colleague’s resignation.
“We’ll get crucified, there’s no doubt about that, at the next general election, but that’s the nature of Labour – it comes in and does the right thing. It’s on a path that isn’t of its choosing. There’s no way of glossing that up ...”
Mr Ryan said he had found his position “untenable in a party that has lost its traditions and values”.