Corbyn reportedly spent Sunday planning what critics have dubbed the “revenge reshuffle.”
Last month’s vote on extending British airstrikes against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) from Iraq into Syria exposed stark divisions among Labour MPs. Eleven of Corbyn’s 28 Shadow Cabinet ministers, including Benn and Eagle, broke with party policy and voted in favor of intervention, with Benn delivering a speech backing airstrikes that was applauded by Tory MPs.
Eagle, meanwhile, also supports renewing Britain’s Trident nuclear missile system. Corbyn opposes the renewal, and hopes to change the party’s policy ahead of a vote in the spring.
The reshuffle is also thought to be aimed at increasing the number of women in senior posts, the paper writes. Shadow Employment Minister Emily Thornberry and Shadow International Development Secretary Diane Abbott are believed to among those in consideration for top jobs.
Shadow Culture Secretary Michael Dugher, another prominent Corbyn critic whose post is believed to be at risk, rejected rumors of a major reorganization as speculation. He told BBC 5 Live on Sunday:“The reason I don’t see it happening is because I think it would be inconsistent with what Jeremy has talked about since he got the leadership, which is about … having debate.”
Writing in soft-left magazine the New Statesman, Labour MP John Woodcock urged Corbyn to deliver on his promise of a kinder politics.
“Please Jeremy, don’t be the guy who allows himself to be a kindly smiling face at the front of a brutal regime that recreates all the authoritarian intolerance of New Labour without any of that era’s good bits.”