Shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who has urged a free vote, said he was sure the shadow cabinet would “arrive at a common position and hold together” after the meeting.
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The Labour leader’s decision will be communicated to the whole party at a meeting of MPs and peers at 6pm on Monday.
The fact that we should take the latest figures with a pinch of salt is compounded by a recent YouGov report which revealed only 58 per cent of Labour members were opposed to air strikes in Syria.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said he had been briefing Labour MPs on military action over the weekend but stressed the Government does “not yet” have a guaranteed majority to back airstrikes.
Addressing concerns that joining airstrikes in Syria would put Britain at risk of Paris-style terror attacks, the PM said that security agencies agreed that the United Kingdom was already “in the top tier of countries that Isil is targeting”. I think China would jump at the opportunity to be involved because it would bring them on to the global stage.
The Labour leader is facing a revolt from his own shadow cabinet next week as the Commons votes on whether to take military action against ISIS in Syria, and some Labour MPs called on Corbyn to stand down after his handling of the issue caused a split in the party.
Mr Corbyn’s position at the head of Labour has plunged into crisis just three months since his surprise election as leader, with the left-winger yesterday refusing to bow to his MPs’ demands for a free vote on British military action in Syria.
His clear statement of opposition to airstrikes is likely to be backed up by the membership and he is also seeking the support of Labour’s ruling national executive committee in a bid to persuade MPs to come round to his view.
Asked whether Labour MPs – dozens of whom are thought to be considering supporting action – would be given a free vote, Mr Corbyn said: “No decision has been made on that yet, I am going to find out what MPs think”.
Corbyn said he would not describe himself as a pacifist but military action should only be used as an absolute last resort.
Len McCluskey, the general secretary of the Unite trade union has fired a warning shot at any MPs who may see this as an opportunity to dislodge Mr Corbyn.
Mr Murray said Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale was also opposed to air strikes, but added: “There are wide views on this particular issue – it is an incredibly emotive issue”.
The Government was humiliated after a previous vote on strikes in Syria, which were meant to deter the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime, was rejected in 2013.
But a series of front-benchers, including shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn and deputy leader Tom Watson, broke cover to contradict his view.
Although a free vote would spare Corbyn the ignominy of large numbers of Labour MPs defying the whip, such a scenario would further undermine his leadership.
“He may try and impose this on the shadow cabinet”.
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We contacted the Labour Party to clarify the methodology of the poll, but they had not replied at the time of publication.
