Jeremy Corbyn: 'I would never press the nuclear button if I was PM'

Nuclear pledge: Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn
Joe Murphy @JoeMurphyLondon30 September 2015
WEST END FINAL

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Jeremy Corbyn today single-handedly tore up Labour’s defence policy by saying he would refuse to press the “nuclear button” if he was Prime Minister.

Britain would effectively suspend its nuclear deterrent if Labour wins in 2020 - because such weapons can only be unleashed with the agreement of the Prime Minister.

“We are not in the era of the Cold War any more, it finished a long time ago,” Mr Corbyn declared. Asked by BBC radio if he would ever use nuclear weapons, he replied: “No.”

His vow deepened a split in the shadow cabinet where several senior members including shadow defence secretary Maria Eagle favour replacing the Trident nuclear system.

Labour former Defence Minister Kevan Jones said: “It would appear that Jeremy wants to pick and choose what party policy he agrees with.”

It opened questions about whether there would be any point in “continuous at-sea deployment” of four Vanguard submarines if there was no threat to launch Trident missiles against an enemy. Any change in the deployment would affect defence jobs in Scotland.

Mr Corbyn said: “I am very well aware of the different views around the shadow cabinet table but I’m also well aware of the views of a large number of party members and supporters who were quite prepared to vote for me knowing full well what my position was on nuclear weapons.

“It would be dishonest of me to say anything less than my honest view on it.” In his main conference speech yesterday, Mr Corbyn claimed a “mandate” to pursue unilateral disarmament.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said MPs should get a free vote on military action in Syria because of a split. “I think it is a conscience decision,” he said.

In a morning media round, Mr Corbyn also suggested Britain could pay “reparation” to Jamaica and other countries for the slave trade.

“I think we should apologise for the slave trade,” he said, calling it “the most brutal part of our history”.

Asked if the UK should pay reparations, he said: “We should be doing all we can to try and right the wrongs of the past ... I would be interested to hear what the proposals are.”

He defended his speech against complaints that it ignored the deficit and immigration, saying he was “setting out some general philosophical ideas” rather than policy details.

Mr Corbyn shrugged off the embarrassing disclosure that sections of his speech were rejected by four previous Labour leaders, saying he was “grateful” author Richard Heller who submitted the passages. “We were sent some information, some ideas by a number of people in preparing for the speech.

“There were 350 words sent in by a friend of mine which he was actually not aware we were thinking about using (and) we did use. I’m grateful to him.”

People who run small firms are not “posh”, deputy leader Tom Watson told the conference in the final session.

In the final speech, he urged Labour to change its attitude towards struggling micro-employers.

“These people are not posh, they’re not privileged,” he said. “They’re not greedy or selfish or stupid. They work hard, they want to get on, but they also care about their neighbours and the communities we share.”

Mr Watson said he met one employer who took home half the salary of a teacher of his age, who could not get a mortgage,

Conference was due to end with the traditional singing of the Red Flag.

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