ABERAVON MP Stephen Kinnock has defended his leader Jeremy Corbyn over his stance on Britain’s nuclear deterrent.
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Delegates were inspired by his speech, rapturous in their applause, and reassured by the calm “bank manager” image projected by the shadow Chancellor John McDonnell. But if we get to that stage, the first and most important priority for this country is the defence of the realm.
After Labour’s near wipeout in Scotland in May’s general election, he said the party was focusing on the Holyrood elections as it attempts to rebuild – although opinion polls suggest the SNP is on course for another sweeping victory.
And so it proved to be. Defying criticism that the party, and he personally, is a risk to the security of Britain, Mr Corbyn said he could offer protection for families as well as in national security policy.
Asked whether he stood by his statement that he would not use nuclear weapons as PM, he replied: “Would anybody press the nuclear button?”
Kenny’s remarks are created to avoid a scenario in which Corbyn became prime minister as leader of a party that officially supported the Trident programme. After all we all know he is against nuclear weapons, and would not renew the UK’s Trident nuclear missile system. Maria Eagle has previously backed the renewal of Trident.
JC: “I am opposed to nucler weapons, I am opposed to the holding and usage of nuclear weapons”.
“Every young lad has a dream of appearing in the FA cup final, and scoring the winning goal, and I was looking at you and the love there was for you in the room, and you were basking in it – was yesterday your FA cup final?”
But, he added: “If I can’t, we’ll live with it somehow”. “A few voters might think that”. “The issues are threats of irrational acts by individuals”. “I hope we can promote and encourage that peace process and that dialogue”. She added “I don’t think that a potential prime minister answering a question like that, in the way in which he did, is helpful”.
He argued that there are only five nuclear weapon states and 187 that are not.
“There are three others that have nuclear weapons”. Why should those five need it themselves?
“It would be dishonest of me to say anything less than my honest view on it”. That is a quarter of our defence budget.
The veteran left-winger made his first visit to Scotland since being elected to the job and said it was his party that would “protect the poorest and most vulnerable people in Scotland“.
But it remains to be seen whether these pictures exist and if they’ll ever see the light of day… More shocking is the fact that it was also roundly denounced by members of his own shadow cabinet.
The leader of one of Britain’s biggest trade unions has warned Jeremy Corbyn he may be unable to take on the role of prime minister after the new Labour leader said he could never launch a nuclear strike.
Lord Sugar said: “I might ask that Jeremy Corbyn whatever his name is, the new Labour bloke, keep rabbiting a little more, putting a bit of doom and gloom into the country so that we can get people selling up quickly so I can buy the stuff off them cheaply”.
So what was going on?
Watson clearly has no intention of practising the “kinder, gentler” politics that Corbyn has called for this week.
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In October previous year the then-Labour leader Johann Lamont resigned from her post with a stinging attack on the UK Labour Party for treating the party in Scotland, ‘like a branch office of London‘. “Additional support needs to maintain the self-employed’s inherent flexibility, as this is where they can make the greatest contribution to the UK’s economy”.
