Two Co-op MPs quit shadow minister roles

Shadow rail minister Jonathan Reynolds quit on Wednesday morning after a reshuffle, which saw shadow Europe secretary Pat McFadden and shadow culture secretary Michael Dugher sacked for “disloyalty” and Maria Eagle moved from defence because she backs Trident.

But he’s thrown out two people his team believe were disloyal (Pat McFadden’s departure seems to be a particularly late creation in the reshuffle – Jeremy Corbyn didn’t even have the offending disloyal quote from Mr McFadden in front of him when he sacked Mr McFadden).

Labour finance spokesman John McDonnell, a close Corbyn colleague, said the trio were from a “narrow, right-wing clique” who disrespected Corbyn’s mandate.

Kevan Jones quit as shadow defence minister and said he believed Thornberry “knows nothing about defence” and was only given the position as she agrees with Corbyn on getting rid of Britain’s nuclear weapons system.

The Labour leader axed both shadow europe minister Pat McFadden and shadow culture minister Michael Dugher for “disloyalty”.

The leadership said Mr McFadden was sacked for comments he made in the Commons after the Paris outrages when he attacked the Left-wing view shared by Mr Corbyn that Western interventions in the Middle East provoked terrorist attacks.

Another Corbyn critic, Hilary Benn, held on to his position as shadow foreign secretary, despite repeatedly clashing with the Labour leader in recent months.

Meanwhile Corbyn ally – and Labour’s Shadow Minister for Women – Cat Smith says “while the Conservatives like to wax lyrical about gender equality, Labour actually puts its money where its mouth is”.

Denying he had staged a “revenge reshuffle”, he instead told regional journalists his move – which prompted three frontbench resignations – was merely an “adjustment”.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has compared staging a reshuffle to playing “multi-dimensional chess” and revealed that he signed off on the last appointments by text message while on stage at a rally in support of legal aid.

He told Premier’s News Hour that it was his faith that drove his decision: “I personally feel it’s not the decision for me to be part of the Labour front bench at this time”.

He added: “North Korea’s deeply disturbing claim to have exploded its first hydrogen bomb underlines the importance of taking our national security seriously, not handing it to a Labour Party that would unilaterally disarm Britain”.

“Hilary Benn has ensured that he works more closely with Jeremy in the future and that he will be representing the views of the Labour Party”, he said.

Corbyn, a veteran left-wing activist, was elected party leader after the election by tapping into a desire for change among grass-roots party members.

“I understand they are now before a solicitors’ tribunal…”

“We have got to be credible on defence in the country and I think appointing Emily is a mistake”, Jones said.

Ms Thornberry defended her suitability for the defence role and said it was “nonsense” to suggest she had been brought in to help shift the party’s stance on Trident.

He added: “No one forces them to kill innocent people in Paris or Beirut”.

He had warned Mr Corbyn he would end up with a “politburo of seven” at the top of the party if he attempted to use a reshuffle to surround himself with allies from the Labour left.