Corbyn HUMILIATED as key ally says Britain WILL keep Trident nuclear deterrent
JEREMY Corbyn was humiliated by a key ally in parliament who told Labour delegates that Britain will keep the Trident nuclear deterrent despite the leader's wish to scrap it.
Clive Lewis told Labour delegates that Britain will keep the Trident nuclear deterrent
Shadow Defence Secretary Clive Lewis, seen as a close ally on the far Left of Mr Corbyn, made the admission during a debate at the conference in Liverpool.
His appointment had been seen as a signal that Mr Corbyn would change Labour official policy which currently supports keeping the nuclear deterrent to protect Britain from threats.
Let's not make ourselves an easy target
But instead the Norwich North MP ditched his leader's plans and told the conference that replacing Trident system and submarines is necessary.
Mr Lewis told the conference: "As you know, I am sceptical about Trident renewal, as are many here.
"But I am clear that our party has a policy for Trident renewal."
The trident vote was designed simply to cause difficulties for Labour, says Clive Lewis
He warned Theresa May was using the issue as a "political weapon aimed at her party's opposition at home - us", adding: "So let's not make ourselves an easy target."
MPs voted overwhelmingly earlier this year to renew the UK's nuclear deterrent system and Mr Corbyn was angrily condemned by some of his own MPs for opposing Trident.
Mr Lewis abstained on the vote, dismissing it as "parliamentary pantomime" designed simply to cause difficulties for Labour.
Corbyn RE-ELECTED as Labour leader with 61% of the vote
At the gathering in Liverpool both Mr Lewis and shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry stressed Labour's commitment to multilateral nuclear disarmament.
But CND claimed the shadow defence secretary's speech at the Labour conference in Liverpool meant the party was now "supporting nuclear rearmament".
It is also understood that Mr Lewis intended to go further in his speech, with a pledge not to unpick party policy, but a senior aide to Mr Corbyn forced him to remove the reference.