Emily Thornberry Mocks Tories For Not Resigning Over Mistakes: ‘Wouldn’t Be Any Of Them Left’

Emily Thornberry hit out at the Conservative government on Friday, joking that its ministers consistently to resign even after admitting to a public mistake.

Speaking to GB News, the shadow attorney general was asked about a PR error from 10 years ago which led her to resign from the Ed Miliband’s front bench.

Host Stephen Dixon said: “You’re not a particular fan of St George’s cross, are you?”

After a long pause, Thornberry said: “What do you mean?”

“Well, you took the mickey out of someone flying the England flag and had to resign as a result of it,” Dixon said.

Realisation suddenly washed over her MP’s face, and she said: “Oh you’re talking about a photo I took 10 years ago and put on Twitter!

“Yes, I took a photo 10 years ago of a house covered in England flags, is that what you mean? And people made all sorts of assumptions about it?”

She continued: “As far as I was concerned, it was, you know, if it was going to do any damage to the Labour party, do you know what I did?

“I resigned! Do you remember when people used to do that when they made a mistake? 

“You haven’t seen that forever I think from this lot. They don’t do resigning, do they? Otherwise there wouldn’t be any of them left!”

Their conversation was sparked by Friday’s spat over the customised St George’s Cross on Nike’s new England football shirts before it shifted into a conversation over the government.

It’s worth noting that 11 ministers have actually resigned from Rishi Sunak’s government.

For instance, Gavin Williamson resigned as a minister in November 2022 after allegations he used improper language to other staffers and Nadhim Zahawi was dismissed as Tory chair after a report said he breached the ministerial code,