Jeremy Corbyn said he wanted Labour to have an open debate about the big issues and he’s certainly got that. Yesterday, 70 per cent of the Scottish Labour conference voted for a motion opposing the renewal of the Trident independent nuclear deterrent — putting the party’s policy north of the border at odds with Labour as a whole. Although there was a motion tabled at Labour’s Brighton conference to debate Trident, it never reached the floor and the policy backing nuclear weapons remained intact. Plus, Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale is in favour of Trident, while Corbyn is thought to be against.
Such votes have happened in the past at Scottish Labour conferences and have usually been ignored. But Labour is currently conducting a review of its defence policy and the vote in Scotland will definitely be taken into consideration by Team Corbyn. Diane Abbott, the shadow international development secretary and a close ally of Corbyn, tells Coffee House she believes ordinary Labour members have similar views to the Scottish Labour party and the whole party will eventually unite around opposition nuclear weapons:
‘I welcome the fact that the Scottish Party has voted not to renew Trident.
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