Labour reshuffle: Thornberry replaces Eagle for defence, McFadden sacked and Benn stays

[LeftishBrit]

Jeremy Corbyn has replaced his pro-Trident shadow defence secretary Maria Eagle with his ally Emily Thornberry in a reshuffle designed to create a more unified shadow cabinet.

The Labour leader moved Eagle to shadow culture secretary, mostly because she disagreed with his position opposing the Trident nuclear weapons system.

However, Corbyn decided to retain his shadow foreign secretary, Hilary Benn, after coming to an agreement on their future working.

The deal means there will be no repetition of their disagreement about the vote on bombing Syria, during which Corbyn argued against military action and Benn gave a speech in favour. All future positions on foreign policy will be directed by Corbyn, a Labour source said.

(More at link)


http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jan/06/labour-reshuffle-thornberry-replaces-eagle-for-defence-mcfadden-sacked-and-benn-stays

[Bad Dog]

1. Glad Benn is staying.

Hardly the night of the long knives. Hopefully this will allow the party to show some sense of unity while the Tories tear themselves apart over Europe.

[Ironing Man]

2. i doubt it...

the problem is that everyone knows that the PLP/SC/Leader are spectacuarly disunited, that they fundamentally disagree on the most serious issues around defence, foriegn policy, allignment and the use of force.

merely saying they aren't isn't going to stop everyone knowing that Benn and Corbyn fundamentally disagree on principle about pretty much everything in Benns' brief.

personally, i am surprised and somewhat disappointed that Benn chose to stay under the apparent conditions that he has - i expected rather more of him. we shall, of course, see what happens with the EU referendum - as Cameron has allowed (through gritted teeth, and contrary to everything he said previously..) his ministers to campaign against his veiw, Corbyn will be under pressure to do the same.

[Ironing Man]

3. an amusing little dit...

Emily Thornberry, who has replaced Maria Eagle as Shadow Sec. State for Defence, turns out to have recieved some £48,000 in donations from the legal firm Leigh Day & Co, who - as M'Lud doubtless remembers - were involved in a legal case where they attempted to sue a number of British soldiers for actions in Iraqm as well as the Al Sweady enquiry, where they made a number of very serious allegations about the conduct of UK forces in Iraq.

the problem is that the judge running the Inquiry accused said M'Learned Friends of 'Deliberate Lies, Reckless Speculation and Ingrained Hostility' after the case they were put forward fell apart under scrutinty.

the MOD complained to the Solicitors Regulation Authority about the conduct of Leigh Day & Co, and the SRA refered the company to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, which may - or may not - strike them off.

should make for some strained silences when she invites herself to various MOD facilities...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35247721

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/05/law-firm-leigh-day-solicitors-disciplinary-tribunal-al-sweady-inquiry

if the name Emily Thornberry rings a bell, Ed Miliband sacked her as Shadow Attorney General over comments on Twitter she made about a house covered in England Flags with a White Van parked outside - during a by-election...