Owen Jones hasn’t stopped producing groundbreaking journalistic output since announcing his new “Vote Against Labour” initiative. His latest piece in The Guardian yesterday argued for cuts to defence spending and scrapping Trident, using such high-grade arguments as: “It is true that Nato membership calls for arms spending of at least 2% of GDP, but in practice most states flout that.” That settles it, then…
Owen included damning final evidence in his polemic:
“As the House of Commons Defence Select Committee concluded: ‘The only way that Britain is ever likely to use Trident is to give legitimacy to a US nuclear attack by participating in it.’”
The only problem? Jones has misattributed the quote to the Committee as opposed to its actual author, which is Greenpeace, in one evidence session in 2006. The quote does in fact appear as the conclusion of the Defence Committee, though only on a Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament leaflet. Judge a journalist by the quality of his sources…
Owen defended himself last night by blaming the error on his teeth: “I had dental surgery this week, which has left me a bit of a groggy mess…Basically I don’t have any wisdom teeth.” Hope he’s got BUPA…
Despite PMQs avoiding the topic, SW1 is abuzz with chatter over The Sun’s revelation that a second Trident missile failed while Grant Shapps was on board the sub in January. Tobias Ellwood has gone further than anyone else in revealing what is known about the test’s failure, telling GB News that he has conducted “investigations” and understands “it was some equipment that was actually attached to the missile itself that prevented the firing of the rocket system“. Details that should be closed…
An MoD source confirms to Guido that “no one has been asked not to talk about the DASO (Demonstration and Shakedown Operation) in general” – implying that they have been told not to talk about specifics. Government sources insist to Guido that the deterrent is effective and all other details, including that of the leak, are “second-rate“, and that Ellwood would likely have heard more details of the test second or third-hand. Meanwhile, a “serious investigation” is being launched over the original leak of the test, starting with a police investigation into who was on the sub at the time of the failed launch. Splashes in the ocean are causing ripples in Westminster…
How’s this for a conference laugh. Labour’s “Shadow Minister for Peace and Disarmament” Fabian Hamilton has recounted the tale of what happened when Emily Thornberry met the Foreign Office permanent under-secretary Sir Simon McDonald during the election to discuss the event of a Labour win. The plan for day one: appoint a Cabinet minister with responsibility to disarm the UK…
“Just before the General Election on June 8th, Emily Thornberry and Jennifer Larbie, Head of International Policy for Jeremy’s Office, they went to see Sir Simon McDonald who is the Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, that means by the way that he is the boss, he’s the senior United Kingdom Diplomat… When Emily and Jennifer put to Sir Simon that the idea that if we won on Thursday and if we win in the future – when we win in the future – we will create, because it’s in the manifesto, a Minister, a Secretary of State, a Cabinet role, for Peace and Disarmament, and that would include the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. And McDonald’s reply was: ‘Brilliant, that’s a really good idea.'”
Oh to have seen Sir Simon’s face…
Speaking at a Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament fringe meeting, Hamilton also recounted a phone call with Corbyn during which he said the Labour leader reiterated his opposition to nuclear weapons:
“He [Jeremy Corbyn] said: ‘You and I have been active in Parliamentary CND and I have always taken the view that our independent nuclear deterrent is a waste of money and worse.'”
A member of Labour’s National Policy Forum outlined plans to bring forward motions at next year’s conference to make nuclear disarmament official party policy. George Downs said scrapping nukes was “Jeremy’s vision” and the left’s capture of the party’s Conference Arrangements Committee could be used to bring it about:
“Fingers crossed this time next year we will be debating the National Policy Forum Report which includes nuclear disarmament, but if not a contemporary motion which isn’t ruled out of order by this new Conference Arrangements Committee, and we can get Labour Party policy which is in line with Jeremy’s vision.”
Could unilateral disarmament become official Labour policy this time next year?
Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis has said Jeremy Corbyn told him he will get rid of Trident “as soon as I can“. Quotes via Somerset Live:
When asked about the Labour leader’s appearance, Michael Eavis said: “Wasn’t he fantastic?”
“I said to when are you going to be prime minister? He said: ‘In six months’.”
Eavis said he asked Corbyn: “When are you going to get rid of Trident?”
“He said: ‘as soon as I can’.”
And Jezza’s Glasto appearance was going so well. Penny for Nia Griffith’s thoughts…
The #bbcqt audience challenges Jeremy Corbyn on his views on nuclear weapons #bbcqt https://t.co/SMmlfwLNSg pic.twitter.com/pEHGxDFkxD
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) June 2, 2017
The most wounding moment of the night: Corbyn takes a battering from several audience members on nuclear weapons and then refuses to answer an audience member entirely. The tittering and laughter from the audience said it all… Corbyn found out at last?
Will Trident be in the Labour manifesto? “We haven’t completed work on the manifesto yet” @jeremycorbyn tells #marr pic.twitter.com/5gq34OtHH9
— The Andrew Marr Show (@MarrShow) April 23, 2017
Corbyn reopens the old Trident wounds, suggesting a Labour government would look again at its renewal and refusing to say if it will be in his manifesto. Paging Nia Griffith…
