Labour plays down talk of ‘crisis’ over stance on Trident
Party statement follows Corbyn’s TV appearance
LABOUR HAS been forced to dispel accusations that it is spiralling towards a leadership crisis less than a week after the General Election was announced as Jeremy Corbyn yesterday cast doubt over the hugely contentious issue of the Trident nuclear deterrent.
The Labour leader claimed he would order an immediate strategic defence review covering “all aspects” of defence policy if he won the General Election on June 8. His comments provoked a swift response from Labour which insisted it still supports the retention of Britain’s Trident nuclear deterrent.
In a statement issued following Mr Corbyn’s appearance on BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show ,a party spokesman said: “The decision to renew Trident has been taken and Labour supports that.”
Mr Corbyn’s comments threatened to re-open the bitter divisions within the party after he was forced last year to abandon his attempts to persuade it to back his unilateralist position in the face of opposition from the trade unions.
The Labour leader – who has previously said he would never authorise the use of nuclear weapons – said he stood by his past views on the subject, adding: “I have made clear that any use of My message is let’s knuckle down, unify, and focus on polling day. Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson (the weapons) would be a disaster for the whole world.”
He was immediately accused by the Conservatives of preparing to “dismantle” Britain’s defences.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd said: “This morning we learnt that Jeremy Corbyn would refuse to strike against terrorists, dismantle our nuclear defences and fail to control our borders. Unless people turn out and vote Conservative, this man could be our Prime Minister in less than seven weeks’ time – propped up by the SNP and Lib Dems in a coalition of chaos.”
Speaking during a visit to West Yorkshire over the weekend after Mrs May’s shock election announcement on Tuesday last week, Labour deputy leader Tom Watson attempted to quell divisions within the party, calling on activists and MPs to focus on the campaign rather than planning for what might happen after the nation went to the polls.
He said: “My message is let’s knuckle down, unify, and focus on polling day on June 8 and getting Jeremy Corbyn into Number 10. We haven’t got time to think about any of that. We’ve got to give it all in this election and put Labour’s case to the people.”
The row over Trident came as the Tories made clear they intended to make Mr Corbyn’s fitness for office a key issue in the election campaign. In a highly personal attack in an interview in yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph, the Conservative Party’s chairman, Sir Patrick McLoughlin, said the Labour leader was “not suitable” to be Prime Minister and would be unable to take the “difficult decisions” needed in the event of a major terrorist attack.