Labour has delayed its Shadow Cabinet discussion of the party’s Trident review until next week, after yesterday’s meeting ran out of time for the discussion. Emily Thornberry was due to give a presentation on the nuclear deterrent yesterday, but longer discussions on parliamentary business and other matters, along with Jeremy Corbyn needing to attend his urgent question on the EU renegotiation in the Commons, meant that she merely offered a few words on the importance of the decision for the party, before promising to return to speak again.
Thornberry is also due to address the next meeting of the parliamentary Labour party on Monday, where she is likely to face questions about who she plans to consult as part of her review. Pro-Trident John Woodcock is running an alternative review in his role as backbench defence chair which he wants to feed into the official party review. This includes evidence sessions from defence experts on the nuclear deterrent, including one this afternoon on Russia, and a briefing last week from Admiral Lord Boyce, the former chief of the defence staff.
Minutes from the Boyce briefing have been circulating around Labour MPs, and I have seen a copy.
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