JEREMY Corbyn’s attempt to reshuffle his shadow cabinet has ended in chaos after three shadow ministers resigned.
The internal party politics overshadowed Corbyn’s appearance at Prime Minister’s Questions, and led to the SNP claiming Labour were “not fit for opposition let alone government.”
The Labour leader’s current crop of problems started at around midnight on Wednesday when he announced that Maria Eagle was being moved from defence to culture, with Emily Thornberry taking her place.
The appointment of Thornberry, a unilateralist, was welcomed by anti-nuclear weapons campaigners, but saw junior defence spokesman Kevan Jones hand in his notice.
In his resignation letter Jones said he “respected” the views of Corbyn and Thornberry over nuclear weapons but that he wanted to make the case for Labour supporting the nuclear deterrent from the back benches.
Shadow Europe Minister Pat McFadden became the second of Corbyn’s frontbench team to be sacked for “disloyalty.”
McFadden’s disloyalty was, said Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, in distorting “Jeremy’s views on the issue of how we tackle terrorism.”
McDonnell’s reference was to a question McFadden had asked Cameron in the wake of the Paris attacks, where he criticised the view “that sees terrorist acts as always being a response or a reaction to what we in the West do.”
McFadden’s ousting led to acrimonious resignations from shadow cabinet members Jonathan Reynolds and Stephen Doughty.
Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Doughty resigned live on BBC 2’s Daily Politics, just minutes before Corbyn took on Cameron at Prime Minister’s Question time.
“I agree with everything that Pat McFadden said about terrorism and national security and not being seen to develop a narrative that somehow it’s the west that is responsible.” Doughty said.
Corbyn’s difficulties were easily exploited by Cameron during PMQs. A planted Tory question about Shakespeare’s anniversary allowed Cameron to poke fun at Labour’s troubles.
“There was a moment when it looked like this reshuffle could go into its twelfth night,” Cameron said. “It was a revenge reshuffle, so it was going to be as you like it. I think, though, we can conclude that it has turned into something of a comedy of errors – perhaps much ado about nothing. There will be those who worry that love’s Labour’s lost.”
The SNP’s Stewart Hosie said Corbyn needed to get his “act together”.
“At a time of devastating austerity the hopelessly divided Labour Party is once again found wanting,” Hosie said. “Jeremy Corbyn spent days planning to sack people who publicly disagreed with him and then changed his mind under pressure, leading to utter confusion. He should get his act together and join the SNP in providing strong and effective opposition to this Tory government.
“Labour’s botched reshuffle shows Corbyn lacks the authority to even choose his own shadow cabinet. A party so engulfed in bitter infighting – unable to unite behind its own leader or policies – is not fit for opposition, let alone government.
“The SNP will continue to provide strong, united and effective opposition to the Tories both at Westminster and in government in Scotland.”
Hilary Benn, who backed airstrikes in Syria last month, and humiliated his boss, escaped Corbyn’s axe. The MP denied claims from sources close to the Labour leader that he had been “muzzled” and promised to do his job “exactly as before”.
The National View: Corbyn’s failure to lead spells more Labour bloodshed
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