This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jan/15/ken-livingstone-sidelined-labour-defence-policy-review-emily-thornberry

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Ken Livingstone sidelined from Labour's defence policy review Ken Livingstone sidelined from Labour's defence policy review
(about 4 hours later)
Ken Livingstone has been sidelined from Labour’s defence review looking at whether to drop support for Trident, as the party published plans to release an interim report by June.Ken Livingstone has been sidelined from Labour’s defence review looking at whether to drop support for Trident, as the party published plans to release an interim report by June.
Emily Thornberry, the shadow defence secretary who opposes the renewal of Britain’s nuclear deterrent, has been put in ultimate charge of the project, though Livingstone remains a co-convenor of Labour’s defence policy commission.Emily Thornberry, the shadow defence secretary who opposes the renewal of Britain’s nuclear deterrent, has been put in ultimate charge of the project, though Livingstone remains a co-convenor of Labour’s defence policy commission.
Livingstone, an ally of party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who also opposes renewing Trident, has given numerous interviews in recent weeks talking of his plans for authoring the review alongside the shadow defence secretary.
Related: Labour’s debate about Trident is important … and good-natured | John McTernanRelated: Labour’s debate about Trident is important … and good-natured | John McTernan
Publishing her terms of reference, the shadow cabinet minister said she would consult widely, encouraging the widest possible participation of party members and the public, before releasing initial conclusions in six months. On Thursday, he told the BBC: “We will focus on the Trident issue ahead of the rest of the defence review … With a bit of luck that can be done in eight to 10 weeks. It will take a lot of work for me and Emily [Thornberry], but that’s good.”
This means that Labour will be without a firm policy if David Cameron decides to call a parliamentary vote on renewing the UK’s nuclear submarines this spring – potentially as early as March. But it appears Livingstone, who infuriated Labour MPs with his interventions on defence, is no longer considered vital to the review after Corbyn replaced the previous shadow defence secretary, Maria Eagle, who was in favour of Trident, with Thornberry.
Livingstone, the former London mayor and an ally of the party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, had presented himself as co-author of the review and earlier this week claimed it was being speeded up in the hope of having a conclusion on Trident by the time of the vote. It is understood Corbyn had been pressed by senior colleagues to remove or downgrade the role of Livingstone, who had to apologise after suggesting former shadow defence minister Kevan Jones needed “psychiatric help” for questioning his role.
“So we will focus on the Trident issue ahead of the rest of the defence review … With a bit of luck that can be done in eight to 10 weeks. It will take a lot of work for me and Emily [Thornberry], but that’s good.” However, some Labour sources tried to claim on Friday that Livingstone had never really had the job of helping to write the policy in the first place.
However, Thornberry published her terms of reference for the consultation on Friday without mentioning Livingstone in the press release or document. In a further complication, this contradicted Livingstone’s own claim that he had voluntarily stepped down because his views coincided exactly with Thornberry’s.
It appears Livingstone, who opposes Trident renewal, is no longer so important to the review after Corbyn conducted his reshuffle at the beginning of the year. Livingstone told the Guardian: “Emily and I had lunch last Friday at the Drapers Arms, a nice little pub in her constituency. After an hour and a half, I just said we’ve agreed on absolutely everything so you should lead on this review. It would have been different if it was Maria Eagle because we didn’t agree. I said I’ll support her in any way she wants.
This replaced Maria Eagle, who is pro-Trident, as shadow defence secretary, with Thornberry, who shares her leader’s opposition to replacing the nuclear weapons. “One of the things we kicked around last Friday was whether we should have an interim review solely about Trident before the vote, but we’re not going to be able to do that.”
The terms of the review state that Thornberry will consider a whole range of defence challenges, including the future of the Trident nuclear weapons programme. Livingstone, who caused alarm earlier this year when he said the review would look at Britain’s membership of Natio, said he would still contribute evidence and believed there would probably be a free vote on the issue if one was called before the report was concluded.
There is no time limit on its conclusions but initial contributions are invited before the end of April and Thornberry is aiming to publish an interim report in June. This will then be presented to the national policy forum and annual conference for agreement. Publishing her terms of reference, Thornberry said she would consult widely, encouraging the widest possible participation of party members and the public, before releasing initial conclusions on a range of defence challenges, including the future of Trident, in six months’ time.
Given that timetable, it is looking increasingly likely that Corbyn will have to call a free vote on the issue as most of his shadow cabinet do not share his opposition to renewal of Trident. This means that Labour will be without a firm policy if David Cameron decides to call a parliamentary vote on renewing the UK’s nuclear submarines this spring, potentially as early as March.
Although the party’s conference confirmed its pro-Trident position last year, Corbyn may argue the policy is no longer valid because it is now officially up for review; he can also point to his mandate from the membership after standing on an anti-nuclear weapons platform during the leadership contest. Livingstone earlier this week claimed the review was being speeded up in the hope of having a conclusion on Trident by the time of the vote.
There is no time limit on its conclusions but initial contributions are invited before the end of April and Thornberry is aiming to publish an interim report in June. This will be presented to the national policy forum and annual conference for agreement.
Related: Renew Trident? It’d make more sense to put Dad’s Army on the case | Simon JenkinsRelated: Renew Trident? It’d make more sense to put Dad’s Army on the case | Simon Jenkins
Launching the review, Thornberry said it was a “great privilege to be leading Labour’s defence review, at Jeremy Corbyn’s request”. Although the party’s conference confirmed its pro-Trident position last year, Corbyn may argue the policy is no longer valid because it is now officially up for review; he can also point to his mandate from the membership after standing on an anti-nuclear weapons platform during the leadership contest.
“This will be a comprehensive review of Britain’s defence challenges and options for the 21st century. It will be open, transparent and inclusive, and its conclusions will be based on the evidence,” she said. Thornberry said it was a “great privilege to be leading Labour’s defence review, at Jeremy Corbyn’s request”.
She said: “This will be a comprehensive review of Britain’s defence challenges and options for the 21st century. It will be open, transparent and inclusive, and its conclusions will be based on the evidence.
“We will encourage the widest possible participation of Labour party members and affiliates, as well as defence specialists, NGOs and the armed forces. At every stage of the process, we will give full scope to the wide range of views on this subject in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust.”“We will encourage the widest possible participation of Labour party members and affiliates, as well as defence specialists, NGOs and the armed forces. At every stage of the process, we will give full scope to the wide range of views on this subject in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust.”
Livingstone has repeatedly infuriated Labour MPs with his interventions on defence since he took his role on the policy commission.
Earlier this year, he caused alarm by saying the UK’s membership of Nato would be looked at by the policy review, and had to apologise after suggesting former shadow defence minister Kevan Jones needed “psychiatric help” for questioning his role on the review.
It is understood Corbyn had been pressed by senior colleagues to remove Livingstone from the review or downgrade his role.