Corbyn’s allies say Dugher spent too much time attacking Labour leadership but many in shadow cabinet have defended him

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Jeremy Corbyn’s decision to sack Michael Dugher as his shadow culture secretary in his long-awaited reshuffle has divided the parliamentary Labour party.

The MP for Barnsley East had made a number of controversial public interventions of late, warning against a “revenge reshuffle” and criticising the influence of Stop the War and Momentum, the grassroots group of Corbyn supporters.



Corbyn’s allies said Dugher was removed from his post because he spent more time attacking the Labour leadership than the Conservatives.

However, a number of shadow cabinet ministers came out publicly in support of Dugher, saying he was a strong campaigner for Labour among working class voters in northern England.

Those defending him included the deputy Labour leader, Tom Watson, Andy Burnham, Vernon Coaker, Gloria De Piero, Luciana Berger, Catherine McKinnell, Jonathan Ashworth and Lucy Powell.

Some Labour backbenchers were even more critical, with Andy Sawford saying the decision was daft and Graham Jones suggesting it was a sign that “traditional working class Labour is dying”.



The sacking is the first in a reshuffle that began on Monday at 2.30pm and is expected to conclude on Tuesday. It was revealed by Dugher in a tweet.

The MP said Corbyn had not liked some of his public interventions.

Michael Dugher MP (@MichaelDugher) Jeremy said he didn't like things I'd been writing (in defence of good colleagues & new politics). Well here it is https://t.co/prMdUislEe

The tweet included a link to a New Statesman article in which Dugher is thought to have coined the term “revenge reshuffle” to describe the shadow cabinet shake-up.



He told Sky News he had “paid the price” for speaking his mind and that it was a “real shame” Corbyn had retreated from a new politics in which dissent and differing viewpoints were welcome.

Dugher said he had become frustrated and angry because he believed members of Corbyn’s team were trying to destroy the reputations of some shadow cabinet ministers and had been briefing newspapers that they would be fired.

The MP said in an interview at the weekend that Labour was a “broad church, not a religious cult” and argued he did not think Corbyn would proceed with the reshuffle because it would be inconsistent with his aim of encouraging debate within the party. He also criticised Corbyn’s aides for speaking out against members of the shadow cabinet.

After the sacking, Dugher, who ran Burnham’s leadership bid, was criticised by Jon Lansman, who was instrumental in Corbyn’s campaign and is now a director of Momentum.



Jon Lansman (@jonlansman) It is not only @jeremycorbyn to whom @MichaelDugher did a disservice. His strategic errors ensured @andyburnhammp did not become leader

Cat Smith, a shadow women’s minister, said Corbyn was right to remove disloyal members of his top team. She told the BBC’s Daily Politics: “If he doesn’t want people in the shadow cabinet who spend more time attacking the Labour party leadership than the Tory benches opposite us, then he is perfectly within his rights to do that.

“He is trying to realign his top team to match more what the PLP is and more what the party is. It think the current shadow cabinet is to the right of where the PLP is, if you look for instance on the vote on Syria, more Labour MPs voted with Corbyn than with Hilary Benn [the shadow foreign secretary].”

On the other side, Chris Leslie, the former shadow chancellor, told the same programme that the removal of Dugher would not help the party win the general election.

“I don’t think [sacking Michael Dugher] will make Labour’s chances of winning [in 2020] any greater,” he said. “I’m afraid that there is a natural impetus amongst the hard left who want to tighten their control. They want to sideline moderate voices when they have the chance to do so ... I don’t think anybody should be surprised that that is the nature of the hard left.”

Corbyn postponed a shadow cabinet meeting due for Tuesday afternoon for the reshuffle, which is aimed at achieving greater harmony in his shadow cabinet on key policy issues.



The process is still ongoing, but has paused for Corbyn to respond to a statement made by David Cameron in the House of Commons about the EU.

He was accompanied on the front bench by Hilary Benn, suggesting the shadow foreign secretary will not be moved from his post.

Labour reshuffle: the quotes that helped seal Michael Dugher's fate Read more

On Monday evening, Corbyn met Benn and Maria Eagle, the shadow defence secretary. Both refused to comment on whether they had kept their jobs as they left his office.

The Labour leader had wanted to shift both from their jobs with the aim of asserting his authority over the divisive policy areas that have dogged his leadership. But it now appears more likely that Benn will stay while Eagle could get another shadow cabinet brief.

It was reported that Lisa Nanday, shadow energy secretary, had been offered and turned down the defence role.

Ken Livingstone, a key ally of Corbyn, who 24 hours ago suggested Benn should be moved to a brief such as environment, said on Tuesday he thought the leader had never intended to move his shadow foreign secretary, who has now stopped being so “dissident and critical”.

Sources indicated the Labour leader wanted to navigate a course between two competing pressures. On the one hand, he believes that the party must have coherence on foreign and defence policy to avoid continual conflict with Benn, on military action, and with Eagle, on the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons programme.

Corbyn believes that the deep differences on foreign and defence policy in the shadow cabinet are overshadowing what he regards as unprecedented consensus on domestic and economic policy.

But the leader wants to act with care to avoid a bloodbath, as he seeks to maintain what has been called his “big tent” approach to politics – which involved appointing only a handful of his own supporters to the shadow cabinet.