PM’s warning on national security as Labour women clash over Trident
BRITAIN’S security will be threatened if Jeremy Corbyn wins the Election, Theresa May warned yesterday as Labour plunged into fresh infighting over the Trident nuclear deterrent.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry said she was ‘sceptical’ about renewing Trident – only for her party’s defence spokeswoman to slap her down as ‘wrong’.
The row started after Ms Thornberry used a radio interview on Friday evening to warn she wouldn’t guarantee to keep Labour’s manifesto pledge to retain Trident if the party seized power. Asked to confirm whether the missile system would survive a party defence review, she said: ‘Well no, of course not. If you are going to have a review, you have to have a review. You know there was a time when we gave up on sabres or horses.
‘You need to keep updating your defence policy and meeting the most pressing and most obvious needs.’
But two hours later, Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith told the BBC: ‘Nobody has raised the issue of removing the Trident nuclear deterrent from our manifesto.’ Asked if Ms Thornberry was wrong, Ms Griffith said: ‘Indeed,’ adding: ‘Emily is not the Shadow Defence Secretary. I am.’
Mrs May seized on the turmoil by telling an Election rally in West London: ‘A Labour Government led by Jeremy Corbyn would not be unequivocally committed to the Trident nuclear deterrent.
‘They would not be able to defend this country. A Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour Government could not be trusted with the defence of our country.’
The controversy is the latest in a series of embarrassing rows within Labour over Trident.
Only last month, Mr Corbyn infuriated colleagues by appearing to leave open the idea that renewing the nuclear deterrent could be left out of the manifesto. Party chiefs had to move hastily to quash the idea.
Mr Corbyn has campaigned for nuclear disarmament for decades. Just 15 months ago he told a Stop Trident March: ‘I’m very serious about this point. Very serious indeed. I don’t want us to replace Trident. Everybody knows that.’
Replacing the current class of Trident nuclear submarines is expected to cost £31 billion, with another £10 billion put aside to cover any extra costs.
Mr Corbyn tried to defuse the row yesterday. During a campaign visit to Birmingham he said: ‘The manifesto makes it very clear that the Labour Party has come to a decision and is committed to Trident.’
Last night, Barrow and Furness Labour candidate John Woodcock, who campaigned for Trident renewal as an MP in the last Parliament, waded into the row by saying that Ms Thornberry’s remarks should be disregarded as she would never get the chance to be Foreign Secretary. He said: ‘We know nationally what the result of this Election is going to be – Theresa May is going to continue as PM after the Election.’