This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The shadow defence secretary has said he has no intention of trying to reverse Labour’s policy of supporting the renewal of Trident before the next general election, despite Jeremy Corbyn’s opposition to nuclear weapons.

Clive Lewis told the Guardian that the party’s existing pro-renewal policy would remain in place unless there were significant changes, such as spiralling costs.

“I won’t be coming back to conference between now and the next election to try to undo the policy we have on Trident as things stand,” he said, adding that he did, however, plan to “scrutinise and hold the government to account” over the issue.

Lewis’s remarks came after claims that Corbyn’s chief strategist, Seumas Milne, altered his speech on the autocue before he delivered it, taking out a suggestion from Lewis that he “would not seek to change” the party’s existing policy.

Some reports suggested the shadow minister also reacted angrily after finishing his delivery.

A source close to Corbyn said all speeches delivered to conference were agreed by the leader’s office, and did involve some alterations in both directions. But they categorically denied a last-minute change was made on the autocue of which Lewis was unaware.

A decision not to challenge Labour’s position over Trident will be seen by some as a concession by the leadership towards the GMB union, which is strongly opposed to any shift in policy.

The pledge drew an angry response from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, of which Corbyn is a vice-president and long-term supporter.

They accused Lewis of “abandoning the defence review” and defying the democratic wishes of the majority of Labour members.

“There is enormous opposition to Trident replacement within the Labour party and there will be huge disappointment at this U-turn by Clive Lewis,” it said.

“We have no doubt that Labour members will work to oppose this disastrous announcement and bring a democratic debate to Labour’s conference next year. This issue is too important for Britain’s future to be left to questions of political tactics.”

The Green party also seized the opportunity to position itself as the only UK-wide party that is anti-Trident.

Caroline Lucas, the party’s co-leader, said: “While there are some in the Labour party who are concerned about jobs in the nuclear industry it is crucial that the Labour leadership put forward a post-Trident plan for decent jobs, rather than back down from the principled and practical position of ridding Britain of these weapons.

“Of course we must use our position on the international stage to encourage other nations to disarm, but those negotiations should not be at the cost of Britain leading the way by ditching these weapons of mass destruction.”

The decision not to challenge Labour’s position on Trident comes alongside a move by Corbyn to get the party’s national executive committee to sign up to 10 policy principles including a commitment to honour the UK’s international treaty obligations on nuclear disarmament.

Some within the Labour movement argue that this means Trident could not be replaced on a like-for-like basis because it involves the renewing the submarines for nuclear weapons.

Lewis, a former army officer who served in Afghanistan, also used his party conference speech to mount a staunch defence of Nato, saying it was in keeping with Labour’s values of “collectivism, internationalism and the strong defending the weak”.

Corbyn has been lukewarm about Nato and in the past has called for its membership to disband. Earlier this year, he avoided answering the question of whether he would automatically come to the defence of a Nato ally under attack.

However, Lewis, an ally of the leader, made plain he was an outright supporter of the organisation and in a speech to the conference floor earlier in the day pledged as shadow defence secretary to commit the party to the 2% defence spending target met by the Conservatives.

“Every Labour government since Attlee’s has met Nato’s spending target of at least 2% of GDP, every single year. And I confirm today that the next Labour government will do the same, including our UN and peacekeeping obligations,” he said.

Lewis also said a Labour government would fulfil the UK’s international commitments, including those under Article 5, which would entail coming to the military aid of another Nato country facing attack.

He went on to emphasis a policy of multilateral rather than unilateral nuclear disarmament - referring broadly to the party’s pre-existing policy.

Lewis said he was “sceptical about Trident renewal, as are many here”.

“But I am clear that our party has a policy for Trident renewal,” he added.

He said Labour would put multilateral disarmament at the forefront of its defence policy, committing to making headway on the international stage.

“We will make our longstanding multilateralism reality, not rhetoric,” he said. “We will be working with international organisations, including the UN general assembly first committee on disarmament and international security, within the spirit and the letter of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.”

Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, had a similar message, saying a future Labour government “will not just revive talks on multilateral nuclear disarmament among the world’s great powers, we will make the success of those talks the test of our success on foreign policy”.