Ken Livingstone’s mental health slur is more of a problem than his views on Trident

Maria Eagle’s aides have denied reports that she is considering quitting her role as Shadow Defence Secretary over the appointment of Ken Livingstone as co-convenor of the Labour party defence policy review. But they are emphasising that she remains the lead on defence policy, and that this review will be feeding in to the party’s National Policy Forum. In a rather optimistic assessment of the rather odd predicament that Eagle, who supports Trident renewal, finds herself in, a source close to the Shadow Defence Secretary explained that having two co-convenors who take different views on the nuclear deterrent may help the policy review process as it will mean everyone with different views on the matter in the party will feel properly consulted:

‘The review aims to facilitate a broad debate in the party about what our defence policies are and having two co-convenors who disagree on the issue of Trident is not that unhelpful.