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Owen Smith sacked by Jeremy Corbyn from Labour frontbench after calling for another Brexit referendum Owen Smith sacked by Jeremy Corbyn from Labour frontbench after calling for another Brexit referendum
(35 minutes later)
Owen Smith has been sacked as Labour’s Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary with immediate effect after calling for a new referendum on the final Brexit deal. Owen Smith has been sacked as Labour’s Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary with immediate effect after advocating a new referendum on the final Brexit deal.
He has been replaced by Tony Lloyd, who Jeremy Corbyn said “is a highly experienced former Government minister who is committed to ensuring that peace in Northern Ireland is maintained and helping to steer the devolution deal back on track”.  The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn made the decision on Friday evening after Mr Smith broke ranks with the frontbench and urged his party to remain in the single market to avoid a hard border in Ireland. 
It comes after Mr Smith, who challenged Mr Corbyn unsuccessfully for the Labour leadership in the summer of 2016, urged his party to consider “if Brexit remains the right choice for the country” and to offer a vote to the public once negotations have concluded. He has been replaced by Tony Lloyd, the Labour MP for Rochdale, who Mr Corbyn said is a “highly experienced” former government minister committed to ensuring “that peace in Northern Ireland is maintained and helping to steer the devolution deal back on track”. 
On his Twitter account Mr Smith wrote on Friday evening: “Just been sacked by Jeremy Corbyn for my long held views on the damage Brexit will do the Good Friday Agreement and the economy of the entire UK.  Mr Smith wrote on his Twitter account: “Just been sacked by Jeremy Corbyn for my long held views on the damage Brexit will do the Good Friday Agreement and the economy of the entire UK.”
It comes after Mr Smith, who challenged Mr Corbyn unsuccessfully for the Labour leadership in the summer of 2016, urged his party to consider “if Brexit remains the right choice for the country” and to offer a vote to the public once negotiations have concluded.
Mr Smith added that the only way to prevent a hard border in Northern Ireland was to remain in the single market and the customs union, an issue at the heart of the Brexit debate.
“Those views are shared by Labour members and supporters and I will continue to speak for them, and in the interest of our country.” “Those views are shared by Labour members and supporters and I will continue to speak for them, and in the interest of our country.” 
Mr Corbyn said: “Tony is a highly experienced former Government Minister who is committed to ensuring that peace in Northern Ireland is maintained and helping to steer the devolution deal back on track.” Sources close to the Labour leader told The Independent that Mr Smith had acted similar to a “backbencher not a frontbencher” by authoring the article in contrary to the frontbench position. 
  One source added: “Jeremy brought Owen back into the Shadow Cabinet after the leadership election, but he wasn’t a team player. Real shame.”