Jeremy Corbyn under fresh pressure as shadow minister quits

Resignation: Shadow Attorney General Catherine McKinnell
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Jeremy Corbyn came under fresh attack today as a shadow cabinet minister quit over the “direction and internal conflict” of the Labour Party.

Catherine McKinnell said she was resigning as shadow attorney general with “a heavy heart” after losing faith in the “increasingly negative path” of the party.

The Newcastle North MP said she had been optimistic at first about the “new kind of politics” promised by Mr Corbyn and went on: “However, as events have unfolded over recent weeks, my concerns about the direction and internal conflict within the Labour Party have only grown and I fear this is taking us down an increasingly negative path.”

She is the fourth shadow minister to resign in the past week and to criticise direction under Mr Corbyn.

Two London MPs were tipped to replace her: Hammersmith’s Andy Slaughter and former Director of Public Prosecutions Sir Keir Starmer, MP for Holborn and St Pancras.

Mr Corbyn today gave his strongest signal yet that he could use a referendum of Labour members to push through a historic change of policy on the Trident nuclear deterrent.

In an interview that alarmed Labour modernisers, he said grassroots members would get a “big say” in whether to change the current policy that backs the renewal of Britain’s nuclear weapons system.

“Whether that comes as a vote of individual members or a vote of conference, that will be decided,” he said.

Two members of the shadow cabinet - Lord Falconer and Owen Smith - yesterday hinted they would quit if he reversed the current policy, while a third, Lucy Powell, predicted the big trade unions would block such a move as it would cost jobs.

He refused to rule out launching drone strikes to kill suspected terrorists in Syria or Iraq.

Labour’s leader said he would look at the “evidence” before deciding on any request for a strike from security officials if he was Prime Minister.

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