Corbyn Clear On Trident As He Takes CND Role

Jeremy Corbyn has become a vice-president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), confirming his commitment to fight the renewal of Trident.

The move risks splitting his shadow cabinet, many of whom support renewing Britain’s nuclear deterrent.

He was rebuked by colleagues last month when he said he would not launch a nuclear strike if he was prime minister.

CND said that while Mr Corbyn was stepping down as vice-chair in recognition of his increased workload, he would take on the role of vice-president instead. The CND says 200 members are signing up to the organisation every month, compared to a rate of 30 per month in June, and says it has attracted 100 new members in the last month alone.

CND chairman Dave Webb, from Leeds, said the Labour leader was “extremely well received by everyone” at the private event.

Kate Hudson, general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), said she could not see the “lifelong member of the CND” abandoning his beliefs.

“Working together, with enormous support from across society, we will prevail against Trident and secure a crucial step towards global disarmament”.

“He’s challenging the consensus that has developed at Westminster around Trident, and that’s something we’re looking forward to taking forward with him”.

Mr Corbyn has been a member of CND since joining as a teenager in 1966 and has never wavered in his commitment to scrapping Trident.

In Scotland, the SNP has declared its intention to remove Trident from its base at Faslane, on the Clyde.

The SNP had earlier challenged Corbyn to end what it termed “the chaos and confusion” over Labour’s policy on replacing the Trident nuclear weapons system.

The prospect of an imminent vote on Trident will reopen rifts at the very top of the Labour Party.

“With the resounding victory of Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour Leadership contest, we now have the opportunity for one of the major United Kingdom political parties to be at the forefront of a genuine re-think on Trident”.

“People elected Jeremy on a massive landslide”.

Conference attendees present for Mr Corbyn’s address described a “very informal atmosphere” with groups of people singing, and said there were around 50 activists still in the room.