LABOUR FRONT BENCH SPLIT ON TRIDENT POLICY
THERESA May has claimed Labour cannot be trusted with the defence of the country after a row broke out between Llanelli MP Nia Griffith and the shadow foreign secretary.
Jeremy Corbyn was forced to restate Labour’s commitment to Trident renewal after Emily Thornberry suggested the party could withdraw its support after a post-election review of Britain’s defence needs.
The shadow foreign secretary was slapped down by pro-Trident shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith, and Mr Corbyn himself said Labour was “committed” to maintaining the deterrent.
Speaking during a campaign visit to Birmingham, the Labour leader said: “The manifesto makes it very clear that the Labour Party has come to a decision and is committed to Trident.
“We’re also going to look at the real security needs of this country on other areas such as cyber security. I think the attack on our NHS last week proved there needs to be some serious re-examination of our defences against those kind of attacks.”
A party source said: “Trident will be renewed come what may, continuous at-sea deterrent.”
The nuclear deterrent would be included in a Labour government strategic defence review, but it would be looking at issues like “costings” and how to protect it from cyber attacks, said the source.
Mrs May seized on the confusion created by Ms Thornberry’s remarks.
“We have seen yet again from Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party today that a Labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn would not be unequivocally committed to the Trident nuclear deterrent,” said the Prime Minister during an election visit in west London.
“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.”
Speaking to LBC radio on Friday, Ms Thornberry, who described herself as “sceptical” about Trident, said she could not guarantee what the outcome of the review would be.
Asked if she could confirm the missile system would remain as Labour policy, Ms Thornberry said: “Well, no, of course not, if you are going to have a review, you have to have a review.
“Overwhelmingly we need to make sure that our policy is up to date and meets 21st century threats and no one can disagree with that, surely.
“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 Ms Griffith told BBC2’s Newsnight: “With all due respect, Emily is not the shadow defence secretary. I am.”
The shadow defence secretary said: “Nobody has raised the issue of removing the Trident nuclear deterrent from our manifesto.”
Asked if Ms Thornberry was wrong, Ms Griffith said: “Indeed. Last year we looked at it, in particular, at the national policy forum and it was decided that we would keep the nuclear deterrent and that was reaffirmed at our conference in September.”