Corbyn faces cabinet mutiny as shadow justice secretary opposes key Labour policies

A SHADOW cabinet minister yesterday said he has “no idea” if Jeremy Corbyn can win the next election, and rejected six key policies put forward by the new Labour leader.

In a sign of the divisions in Mr Cor- byn’s senior team, Lord Falconer, the shadow justice secretary, made clear he is opposed to nearly every policy so far pledged by his leader and John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor.

He also described calls by Mr McDonnell for Tony Blair, the former Labour prime minister, to be put on trial for war crimes as “nonsense” and “off the page”. He undermined Mr McDonnell’s claims that he had only said IRA terrorists should be “honoured” because he was attempting to “save” the peace process in Northern Ireland.

It came as Tim Farron’s first conference as Lib Dem leader descended into chaos as grandees clashed over whether to form a new party in the wake of their humiliating defeat in the general election. Appearing on BBC One’s Sun

day Politics, Lord Falconer said he was opposed to Mr Corbyn’s plans to nationalise utilities firms, scrap the academies programme and take independence away from the Bank of England.

He also rejected Mr McDonnell’s call to renationalise banks and described the Tory welfare cap, which Mr Corbyn has pledged to abolish, as “sensible”.

Lord Falconer dismissed Mr Corbyn’s plans to apologise on behalf of the Labour Party for its role in the Iraq war. He also raised the prospect of voting for military action in Syria, despite Mr Corbyn’s opposition to intervention. And he reiterated his support for the Trident nuclear deterrent. Asked whether Mr Blair was “right or wrong” to say that Mr Corbyn “is not going to be prime minister”, Lord Falconer said: “I have no idea. What we’ve got to do, to try to do, is to make Labour an effective opposition and we need to try to make Labour a party that the public think can govern.”