Labour avoids Trident showdown

The party was initially expected to discuss Trident at the conference in Brighton, but it emerged later that delegates had not approved motions to debate the issue.

The development came just hours after newly elected Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show the party was “going to have to discuss it and debate it and come to a philosophical solution to it”.

Reacting to the news that Trident had been left off the conference agenda, Mr Corbyn said later: “This is an open and democratic party and the members at conference have decided to discuss the issues that they want to debate this week.

“These are important issues like the NHS, the refugee crisis, mental health and housing.”

Earlier today, the leaders of several unions came out against scrapping the nuclear weapons system.

Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, said his main focus was on safeguarding the jobs of members in the defence industry, as Labour prepares to confront an issue that is splitting the shadow cabinet.

Mr McCluskey said: “I understand the moral case and the huge cost of replacing Trident, especially in this era of austerity, but the most important thing for us is jobs and the defence of communities.

“We will vote against any anti-Trident motion. I don’t think this will be a problem for Jeremy Corbyn. He is a great democrat and we are already seeing a refreshing change to the Labour conference, with open debates.”

The most important thing for us is jobs and the defence of communities. Len McCluskey

The GMB and other leading unions are also expected to oppose any move to scrap the independent nuclear deterrent.

Mr Corbyn, a veteran anti-nuclear weapons campaigner, has called for an end to the UK’s “weapons of mass destruction”.

He acknowledged that there would be “differences of opinion” in the party, with the shadow cabinet split on the issue, but changes to the way Labour policy is approved could see the grassroots members who backed his leadership bid given a greater influence.

Shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn and shadow justice secretary Lord Falconer have both spoken out against abandoning the UK’s nuclear capability.

Hinting that Labour MPs might be given a free vote when Parliament debates Trident, he told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show: “We are going to have to discuss it and debate it and come to a philosophical solution to it. But I understand colleagues’ views.

I hope to persuade them that a nuclear-free world is a good thing. Jeremy Corbyn

“I hope to persuade them that a nuclear-free world is a good thing, that fulfilling our obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and promoting a nuclear weapons convention is a good thing. They are all signed up to multilateral disarmament, by the way.

“There are many people, military thinkers, who are very concerned, indeed opposed to Trident, because they don’t see it as part of modern security or defence. They don’t see any situation in which Trident would become an option you would think about using.

“This is a weapon of mass destruction.”

He added: “I will do my persuasive best to bring them around to my view.”

Former leadership contender Chuka Umunna, who ruled himself out of serving in the shadow cabinet under Mr Corbyn, said: “It’s not plausible for us as an opposition not to have a position on the defence of the realm.

“I just don’t think it is sustainable for us to free vote everything and, frankly, it’s not sustainable for different people in our leadership to be saying different things.”