Fiscal vote not important enough for party in-fighting

There are a lot of cross Corbynistas in the country tonight who feel very angry at the 20 Labour MPs who abstained from the vote on the Budget Responsibility Charter.

Some of them have been incredibly abusive towards abstaining MPs too. No one should be called a rapist for abstaining on a vote of any kind. But Jamie Reed MP was earlier today.

Two things Corbyn supporters might want to consider;

1) You would have lost anyway.Regardless of abstentions the Tories have an overall majority. And sooner or later you will have to think about why that is.

2) This Bill doesn't matter much.George Osborne can aim for a surplus with or without the Charter. In that respect John McDonnell is right to call it a stunt.

One Labour backbencher I spoke to afterwards recognised this saying he wanted to abstain but, as it mattered so little, voted with the whip for the sake of party unity. Oh yes, there's a third thing.

3) Jeremy Corbyn doesn't have much claim on party unity. He may do one day, but having rebelled 500+ times himself he doesn't yet have much moral authority in that regard.

So Corbyn Supporters may need to calm their wilder elements, and think about keeping their powder dry. There will be many more important votes than this one.