Wave of walkouts at ‘revenge reshuff le’
JEREMY Corbyn was hit by a wave of front bench resignations yesterday after he sacked a shadow minister who questioned his soft stance on terrorism.
The Labour leader finally completed his ‘revenge reshuffle’ shortly after midnight yesterday by removing Europe spokesman Pat McFadden for ‘disloyalty’.
Pro-Trident shadow defence secretary Maria Eagle was replaced by Emily Thornberry, who shares Mr Corbyn’s anti-nuclear views.
But the move prompted three shadow ministers to quit their jobs in protest, and provoked a warning from former leader Neil Kinnock against ditching Labour’s support for Trident.
The sacking of Blairite Mr McFadden came after he attacked the Stop the War Coalition – of which Mr Corbyn was chairman – for claiming the Paris terror attacks showed France was ‘reaping the whirlwind’ for military intervention in the Middle East.
Mr McFadden said yesterday: ‘He said he felt it was an attack on him and that he had come to the conclusion because of that and one or two other things that I shouldn’t continue.’
Shadow rail minister Jonathan Reynolds was the first to quit in protest at the reshuffle yesterday, saying Labour should never attempt to apologise for terrorism.
He was followed by shadow defence minister Kevan Jones, who said the appointment of Miss Thornberry was ‘a mistake’. Shadow foreign minister Stephen Doughty also stood down – announcing it live on the BBC’s Daily Politics show. However, the front bench trio were later dismissed as a ‘narrow, Right-wing clique’.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said Mr Corbyn was clearing out members who were pursuing a ‘Right-wing Conservative agenda’.
Lord Mandelson last night warned the reshuffle took Labour even further away from any chance of winning a general election by focusing on a policy of unilateral disarmament. Writing in Newsweek, he said it would take a ‘lot of courage’ from MPs to oust Mr Corbyn now he had control of the ‘title deeds’ of the party.
Former Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy yesterday blamed Mr Corbyn and his ‘loudmouth’ supporters for an exodus of long-time party members. Writing in the New Statesman magazine, the ex-MP condemned the leadership for ‘consciously giving up the centre ground to the Tories’, adding: ‘It all means that, for the first time since 1952, an incumbent Tory government has entered a new year further ahead in the polls than it was at the previous year’s election.’
Joe Haines, who served as press secretary to Labour PM Harold Wilson, urged the shadow cabinet to mount a coup against Mr Corbyn before the party was ‘a goner’.
The reshuffle, which started on Sunday, began with the deposing of culture spokesman Michael Dugher – also for alleged disloyalty.
Mr Corbyn shied away from sacking shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn following warnings that it would spark a mutiny.
Stephen Glover – Page 14