Labour Deputy Leader Tom Watson burst into song today in an apparent dig at Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall.
The MP took to the mic at the unveiling of a new poster produced by Labour calling on the UK to vote Remain in the EU Referendum in order to protect worker’s rights.
Also present was party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who yesterday was branded a “spineless coward” by former Labour donor Mick Hucknall.
Watson decided the best way to deal with the criticism was through the power of song, and delivered a tender rendition of the opening lines of the Simply Red classic “Holding Back The Years”.
“Holding back the years, thinking of the fear I’ve had so long.”
Hucknall used his Twitter account to attack Corbyn for his perceived indifference towards whether the UK should vote Remain on June 23.
Senior Labour party sources hit back at the millionaire pop star, telling HuffPost UK that the Tweets were “low level and ignorant abuse from a musical and political has-been”.
Today, Corbyn declined to take part in the impromptu karaoke session, but afterwards Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary Angela Eagle took another dig at the singer.
She said: “I’m a Pretenders fan so I don’t rate Simple…Simply Red.”
Eagle added: “I’m not being drawn on that at all. Jeremy has made his position clear. You might not like what his position is. He thinks that we should stay in Europe to fight for a more social Europe and more rights for people at work and a fairer Europe all round.”
Hucknall was a big backer of Tony Blair and donated £25,000 to Labour under his leadership. He was part of a clutch of celebrity endorsements secured by New Labour in the 1990s, including Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher and soap star Ross Kemp.
Last year, Hucknall praised voters for stopping Ed Miliband from getting into Downing Street.