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…

Below Guido tracks the government’s spin on the Trident misfire over the last 48 hours:

• Saturday night: Sunday Times reports “serious malfunction” during Trident test, missile “may have veered off in the wrong direction towards America”.

• MoD says in a statement that it was “successfully tested and certified”.

• Sunday: On Marr, Theresa May refuses to answer questions about what she knew and when.

• Monday morning: Number 10 spokesman insists the test was “successful” in certifying the crew and submarine. Says May was informed. Won’t say if she was told about any ‘misfire’.

• Monday afternoon: Michael Fallon tells Commons not to “believe everything you read” in Sunday Times. Won’t say what in their report is inaccurate. Says test was “successful” and “satisfactory“. Won’t comment on details of any ‘misfire’.

• May repeats the “successful” line in pool interview.

• While Fallon is speaking, US official tells CNN the test ended in failure, and that rather than “veering” towards the US coast, the trajectory was part of an automatic self-destruct sequence.

The government’s line from Saturday night to Monday afternoon is that the test was “successful”. The US now say it was a failure…

“Real responsibility for this lies with the people who decided to cover the matter up in the first place…presumably it was Downing Street” pic.twitter.com/ccqSViLnpw

— DailySunday Politics (@daily_politics) January 23, 2017

Sir Craig Oliver has lost it with Julian Lewis after the Tory Defence select committee chair claimed this morning that David Cameron’s spin doctors had covered up the Trident misfire. Sir Craig put out a statement blasting Lewis for “making these claims without any evidence”. On the Daily Politics Lewis doubled down:

“A very senior former Cameron spin doctor has rung up my office in a state of great anger, saying they never knew anything about it. I have to say it was a great pleasure to convey the message to Sir Craig Oliver that he ought to issue a press release on the subject, and I hope he will do so in great detail and depth. But nevertheless, if he didn’t know, did the Prime Minister know? And if the Prime Minister knew, why didn’t he make the matter public and why didn’t he tell even his closest spin doctors?”

Sir Craig’s statement was on behalf of a “spokesman for Mr Cameron’s media team“. When the spokesman needs a spokesman, as someone once said…