Labour MPs prepare to rebel for first time against Corbyn: but it won't change anything

John McDonnell has tried to explain why he U-turned on the fiscal charter this afternoon, saying that he has only ‘changed my mind on the parliamentary tactics’, not the principles of the matter. He told Sky News:

‘I have changed my mind, but I haven’t changed my mind on the principles of what the charter is standing for which is we need to tackle the deficit and we will tackle the deficit. Labour will tackle the deficit – we are not deficit deniers, I haven’t changed my mind on that.

‘But I have changed my mind on the parliamentary tactics. Originally what I said to people was look that charter is a political stunt, it’s a political trap by George Osborne, it is virtually meaningless – he ignores it himself time and time again, he never meets his targets. So this is just a stunt and let’s ridicule it in the debate and vote for it because it’s a meaningless vote.’