The Labour leader is not expected to attend the CND conference but rather a private event at the end of it today. His view has been at odds with the Labour party policy for a few while clearly – I can’t imagine that he would possibly change his position on that.
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Kate Hudson, general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), said she could not see the “lifelong member of the CND” abandoning his beliefs, ahead of Mr Corbyn’s expected appearance at the organisation’s annual conference in north London.
Corbyn joined the organisation as a teenager in 1966 and has long campaigned against the replacement of Trident.
A spokesman said the support was still gathering pace, with more than 100 new members joining in the last seven days and thousands of non-paying supporters signing up since the summer.
BBC political correspondent Carole Walker said Mr Corbyn’s new role was likely to increase tensions within his party: “Privately a few are deeply concerned at the uncertainty over Labour’s position on such a key issue”.
He was criticised by a few of his Labour colleagues last month when he undermined an internal debate by saying that there were no circumstances under which he would push the nuclear button.
Of convincing the rest of the party to commit to nuclear disarmament, Ms Hudson said she thought Mr Corbyn’s chances were “very good” and doubted he would waver in the face of party pressure.
“Working together, with enormous support from across society, we will prevail against Trident and secure a crucial step towards global disarmament”.
“I’m also happy to help Jeremy Corbyn and ensure that there is an early debate and vote at Westminster aimed at opposing Trident renewal”.
It is said to have a potential destructive power eight times that of the first atomic bomb, which is estimated to have killed 140,000 people, and to have maimed many more, when it was dropped by the United States on Hiroshima in Japan on 6 August, 1945.
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Arriving late on Saturday afternoon by black cab, Mr Corbyn wished journalists a good evening before disappearing inside to greet anti-nuclear activists.
