A string of Labour shadow cabinet members have quit, with more walkouts expected, in protest at Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership over the EU referendum.<\/p>\n
Lord Falconer, Heidi Alexander, Lucy Powell and Ian Murray are among those to have quit the party’s top team.<\/p>\n
It comes after shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn was sacked after he told Mr Corbyn he had lost confidence in him.<\/p>\n
Mr Corbyn, who faces a no confidence vote over a “lacklustre” EU campaign, “won’t be resigning”, a spokesman said.<\/p>\n
The spokesman said Mr Corbyn “is the democratically elected leader of the Labour Party”.<\/p>\n
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell and shadow cabinet members Andy Burnham, Diane Abbott and Emily Thornberry have given Mr Corbyn their support despite the resignations.<\/p>\n
Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson has said he is “deeply disappointed” that Mr Benn had been sacked and “equally saddened” by the shadow cabinet resignations.<\/p>\n
He said his focus was to “hold the Labour Party together in very turbulent times” and that he would meet Mr Corbyn on Monday to discuss the “way forward”.<\/p>\n
Secret ballot
\nThe series of shadow cabinet walkouts began on Sunday morning, hours after Mr Benn was sacked by the Labour leader.<\/p>\n
Karl Turner, the shadow attorney general, also resigned. His is not a shadow cabinet post, but he attends meetings.<\/p>\n
The Labour Party campaigned for Remain during the referendum, which saw the UK voting to leave the EU by 52% to 48% on Thursday.<\/p>\n
But Mr Corbyn – who has been a long-standing critic of the EU and who is regarded as the most Eurosceptic Labour leader in years – has been accused by some in his party of not making the case for the EU forcefully enough.<\/p>\n
As a result, a motion of no confidence against Mr Corbyn has been submitted by Labour MPs Dame Margaret Hodge and Ann Coffey – and it is expected to be considered at the next meeting of Labour MPs on Monday. A secret ballot could be held the following day.<\/p>\n
‘Not a leader’
\nMeanwhile, a number of senior trade unionists on Labour’s ruling national executive committee rallied in support of Mr Corbyn – including Unite leader Len McCluskey and Dave Ward of the Communication Workers Union.<\/p>\n
Sources close to Mr Corbyn said he would stand again in the event of any leadership election – while Mr McDonnell said he would chair his campaign again.<\/p>\n
And about 180,000 people have signed an online petition backing the Labour leader, who was elected last September in a landslide victory.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Sunday’s Andrew Marr Show, Mr Benn – who has ruled out any Labour leadership bid – said Mr Corbyn was “a good and decent man but he is not a leader”.<\/p>\n
“At this absolutely critical time for our country following the EU referendum result, the Labour Party needs strong and effective leadership to hold the government to account.<\/p>\n
“We don’t currently have that and there is also no confidence we would be able to win a general election as long as Jeremy remains leader. And I felt it was important to say that,” he added.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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