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":"
A string of Labour shadow cabinet members have quit, with more walkouts expected, in protest at Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership over the EU referendum. Lord Falconer, Heidi Alexander, Lucy Powell and Ian Murray are among those to have quit the party’s top team. It comes after shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn was sacked after he told […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":225720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n