The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Fury amid farce as party restates Trident support
Jeremy Corbyn appears to have reversed his position of opposing the renewal of the Trident nuclear submarine fleet.
In chaotic scenes, a shadow cabinet minister reportedly punched a wall after a key section of his Labour conference speech was altered by an aide to the UK Labour leader.
Shadow defence secretary Clive Lewis had been due to say that he would not seek to change Labour’s policy of supporting the renewal of Trident.
But the Politics Home website said Mr Corbyn’s strategy and communications chief Seumas Milne watered down the message.
Mr Corbyn is a long-standing campaigner for nuclear disarmament and opposes the renewal of the Trident system.
In his speech, Mr Lewis said: “As you know, I am sceptical about Trident renewal, as are many here. But I am clear that our party has a policy for Trident renewal.”
He had reportedly wanted to go further but the reference to not seeking to change that policy was removed at the last minute, with Mr Lewis notified as he sat on stage waiting for his speech at the gathering in Liverpool.
A spokesman for Mr Corbyn said: “All speeches are agreed with the leader’s office. The Autocue reflected what was agreed and Clive was notified of this.”
Even by restating Labour’s existing policy, Mr Lewis was condemned by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).
Mr Corbyn is vice-president of the group but given his office sanctioned the speech, his views have now been called into question.
CND general secretary Kate Hudson said: “This means Labour is supporting nuclear rearmament.”
Meanwhile, shadow chancellor John McDonnell has announced a Labour government would enshrine in law a “real living wage”, expected to be more than £10 an hour, into law.
And shadow minister Barry Gardiner announced the UK party was backing the Scottish policy of banning fracking.