Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader and lifelong campaigner against nuclear weapons, has agreed to put to one side any attempt to reverse Labour’s support for renewing Trident in a bid to reduce tensions with unions and rebel MPs.

Clive Lewis, the shadow defence secretary, told the Guardian that Labour would continue to scrutinise moves to build a replacement for Britain’s nuclear deterrent – clarifying the leadership position hours after an apparent row on the issue.

He added: “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.”

The statement came after a bizarre episode at the party’s annual conference in which Lewis appeared to react angrily after a senior Labour figure altered his speech to delegates at the last minute.



Seumas Milne, director of strategy and communications, was said to have used the autocue to remove the suggestion that Labour “would not seek to change” the party’s formal pro-nuclear policy before a general election, in a move that critics claimed was an attempt to tone down the announcement.

Sources close to Lewis and Corbyn tried to play down the suggestion of a row, saying instead there were last-minute tweaks to the text of the speech and insisting that there was no divide on policy.

They said that Labour’s collective position would remain in support of Trident renewal, but revealed that Corbyn would continue to speak out in opposition in line with his longstanding support of unilateral disarmament.

The leader’s closest ally, John McDonnell, also waded into the debate by insisting that the deal to “park” any changes on Trident policy was meant to “steady the ship” but insisted that neither he nor Corbyn would be silenced on the issue.



“On the Trident issue, as we did with Syria, there are strong differing views so there is always going to be a free vote. Jeremy and I and others will keep on campaigning and arguing the case but we recognise that these are really strong conscience issues,” he told the Guardian.

A source suggested that Corbyn had been persuaded because he knew that the renewal had already been passed by a vote in parliament.

However, the leader also took the opportunity to pass a new policy through Labour’s national executive committee promising to “honour our international treaty obligations on nuclear disarmament”, something that he believes would be breached by the renewal of Trident.

“Jeremy has not changed his view at all and will not be under any obligation to do so but this is a collective position for the party, it gives us a way forward,” they said.



Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, told the BBC the party’s overarching defence review was continuing.



It is understood that the issue has been discussed with trade union leaders who fear that Labour’s position will endanger their members’ jobs.

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

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jeremy Corbyn speaks at a Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) event in central London, August 2015. Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA

The organisation 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.”

On the question of Milne’s eleventh-hour intervention, sources suggested that all speeches had to be agreed with the leader’s office, and it was not unusual for there to be last-minute changes. It is understood that Lewis was “a bit frustrated” by the number of late tweaks, although sources insisted that his anger was not linked to the content of the deletions.

It is understood that GMB reps, who support Trident renewal, were unaware of the ongoing row within Corbyn’s office over defence policy. Delegates were expecting to hear a speech which would reinforce Lewis’s position of “wait and see” as the party’s defence policy review was concluded. Union insiders were pleased to hear a policy which appeared to reinforce the party’s current policy of calling for the renewal of Trident.

In his platform speech, Lewis, a former army officer who served in Afghanistan, said he was “sceptical about Trident renewal” along with many of those at conference.

“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.”

John Woodcock, the MP for Barrow in Furness where the replacement submarines will be built, said: “This policy is unchangeable now so if this unfortunate behind-the-scenes tête-à-tête has made Labour’s leadership confront that reality then I suppose that’s a positive thing.”

Lewis 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.