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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow and Nadia Khomami

Jeremy Corbyn addresses Labour MPs at Westminster – as it happened

Jeremy Corbyn on the Labour front bench

That’s it from us for today. Thanks for all your comments.

Key members of Corbyn’s new team are giving his leadership a lukewarm response. Shadow education secretary Lucy Powell, who had never met the new leader in person until this evening, told Radio 4’s PM programme accepting the role had been a “difficult” decision.

The former election campaign vice chairwoman said one of the critical problems Labour faced at the polls was economic credibility. Asked if she believed Corbyn and John McDonnell could convince voters where the previous leader failed, she said: “Not on everything, no, not at all, and some things they have said I don’t agree with.”

Powell’s comments came as earlier today shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn declined to offer his full endorsement over McDonnell’s appointment as shadow chancellor. Benn told the Today programme:

This is the choice that Jeremy has made. I respect the choice that Jeremy has made as leader. We have just come off the back of two bad election defeats for the Labour Party, and our principal task is to win the people’s trust when it comes to the economy.

John’s first and last task as shadow chancellor will be to win the trust and confidence of the British people in arguing for a different economic policy.

Somewhat surprisingly, Corbyn has allowed cameras into his first shadow cabinet meeting.

More info about Corbyn discussing EU membership - Corbyn said Labour “can’t just give Cameron a blank cheque” and any changes the PM secures “must be the right ones”.

Shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn earlier attempted to calm fears among many Labour MPs that Corbyn could campaign for Britain to leave the EU in the in/out referendum expected next year. But a spokeswoman said the Labour leader told MPs the Prime Minister “can’t just come back with whatever”.

Asked if he ruled out campaigning to leave in all circumstances, she added: “He is saying we have to be really clear about the changes we want to see.”

Corbyn did not directly address the issue of military intervention in Syria, the spokeswoman said. “On the Syria issue, he said we need to make sure we are all engaging with other countries, and with things like Isis we need to be making sure we are cutting off their arms and their supplies,” she added.

Updated

Corbyn seems to have made up his mind fairly quickly about the poppy..

The issue of Corbyn wearing a white poppy to mark Remembrance Day also came up. The Labour leader said he didn’t yet know which colour poppy he would wear this year.

The Spectator’s James Forsyth has written about tonight’s PLP meeting. He says there was no cheer as Corbyn entered the room or raucous applause when he stood up to speak - a reminder that his MPs are sullenly accepting his leadership.

The BBC’s Vicki Young says: “There’s no doubt that he had a pretty hard time in there. I don’t think it was particularly hostile or aggressive. Nevertheless, it clearly shows deep unease amongst many of the people in that room, most of whom do not support him and his vision.”

Corbyn, meanwhile, has said his meeting was “wonderful”.

Updated

The new Shadow Chancellor John Mcdonnell has given an interview to Channel 4 news, in which he says he “might not have chosen the right words” about the IRA.

He also says the Shadow Chancellor’s role is to put forward an alternative to the current economic system, which sees millions of people living in poverty.

He says he’s asking for a “significantly reformed Europe”.

On the lack of women in top jobs in the shadow cabinet, he says “there’s no top jobs”. The real jobs are about the delivery of services, he adds, which are being filled by women.

Swimming against the stream has meant at many times Jeremy and I have been isolated, but we were right to oppose Iraq, we were right to vote against the privatisations, and the cuts that even new Labour introduced to benefits. We’ve been proven right, and I think the tide is now with us.

Updated

The New Statesman’s George Eaton reports that Corbyn did not commit to backing EU membership:

Updated

He’s survived...

Here’s what we know so far about Corbyn’s address at the PLP meeting:

  • He told the PLP that his top priorities are housing, next year’s elections in Scotland and Wales and winning the general election in 2020.
  • He and his deputy Tom Watson will spend one day a month in Scotland ahead of the vote.
  • Since his victory on Saturday, 28,000 people have signed up as full members of the party.

It doesn’t seem like Corbyn’s being given an easy ride.

The Huffington Post’s Paul Waugh has some more information about what’s being said in the PLP meeting:

The Guardian’s Rowena Mason is also down there:

Updated

Labour MP Graham Allen has tweeted a photo from the PLP meeting.

It would appear the fire mentioned earlier wasn’t actually at Labour HQ but in the neighbouring building.

Corbyn’s first PLP meeting is currently taking place. Journalists reported hearing a round of applause, presumably because Corbyn told the room that 28,000 new members have joined Labour since Saturday. I’m also informed that the Labour leader has ditched his earlier tie.

Updated

Afternoon summary

  • Jeremy Corbyn has made his first appearance on the Labour front bench, entering the Commons chamber as leader for the opening of the debate on the trade union bill. He was there to support Angela Eagle, the new shadow business secretary. In her speech, Eagle strongly attacked the bill. She said:

I am a lifelong and proud trade unionist, I believe in social partnership at work, I believe that the right of trade unions to exist and represent members at work is a key liberty in any democracy.

I am dismayed that we have a government which believes in attacking trade unions rather than working with them in the spirit of social partnership to improve efficiency, economic efficiency and productivity in our country.

It saddens me beyond words that we’re here today dealing with the most significant, sustained and partisan attack on six million trade union members and their workplace organisations that we have seen in this country in the last 30 years. With the number of days lost to strike action down 90% in the last 20 years there is absolutely no necessity whatsoever to employ the law in this draconian way.

  • Sir Paul Kenny, the GMB general secretary, has said he is not yet sure if Corbyn is the right person to lead Labour into the election. (See 4.27pm.)
  • Labour has confirmed that Corbyn will accept an invitation to join the privy council in his capacity as Labour leader.

UDPATE at 6.10PM: The appoinment has now been announced.

No 10 announcement
No 10 announcement Photograph: No 10



  • The TUC has taken a major step towards backing proportional reform. Delegates have overwhelmingly backed a motion saying that first-past-the-post “stultifies election campaigns and degrades our democracy, alienating voters who feel poorly represented”. The vote also commits the TUC to commissioning a report into alternatives to FPTP, and to campaigning for a “fair electoral system”.
  • Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, has described the Conservative party as “the political wing of the City of London”. In her speech to the TUC she said:

If David Cameron was really battling for blue collar Britain, he’d be fighting for stronger rights. To stop bosses getting away with pitting worker against worker to undercut pay.

The Conservative Party no longer represents the interests of industry in general - its main purpose is to serve just one, global finance.

It’s become the political wing of the City of London. Money, and only money, talks in today’s Conservative party.

That’s all from me for today. My colleague Nadia Khomami is taking over now.

Thanks for the comments.

Updated

As if today was not already dramatic enough, now Labour HQ is on fire ...

Not all members of the shadow cabinet feel loyal to their leader. In an interesting blog on today’s developments, Channel 4 News’s political editor Gary Gibbon includes this snippet.

One of Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet appointments told me: “It’s going to take a long time to convince the party faithful that their man is no use so we need to tread very carefully and make sure we are alive and kicking come the day.”

The SNP is challenging Jeremy Corbyn to clarify his position on Europe. This is from Stephen Gethins MP, the party’s Europe spokesman.

This is a crucial issue for people in Scotland and across the UK. The SNP will be campaigning to keep Scotland in the EU and stop it from being taken out against its will by Eurosceptic Tories and UKIP. But we need to know – will Jeremy Corbyn be campaigning for a vote to stay in Europe?

Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s former communications chief and a fierce critic of Jeremy Corbyn, has praised Corbyn’s decision to have a shadow minister for mental health in his shadow cabinet.

Ken Livingstone, the former Labour mayor of London and a key Jeremy Corby ally, told BBC News earlier that the parliamentary Labour party was too rightwing. But he predicted that Labour MPs would come around to the idea of supporting Corbyn.

The problem is that under the four elections of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, candidates were pre-vetted and lefties were weeded out. So the parliamentary Labour party is much more rightwing. If you look at the new intake under Ed Miliband, they are much better balanced ...

Jeremy is there. He’s got a huge mandate. Public support, I think, will build. Once they see Jeremy Corbyn can be the next prime minister of Britain, a lot of them will start to accommodate to that and start buttering him up.

Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone Photograph: BBC News

The Russian embassy has, whether he likes it or not, sided with Jeremy Corbyn in the dispute between Labour and the Tories over whether or not Corbyn is a threat to national security. (See 11.23am.) This is from the embassy’s official Twitter account.

You’ve got to laugh. For most of us, if President Putin’s attempts to disrupt his opponents were limited to sticking videos on YouTube, that would be a blessed improvement.

GMB general secretary Paul Kenny says he is not yet sure if Corbyn is right leader for Labour

On the World at One Sir Paul Kenny, the GMB general secretary, he did not know yet whether Jeremy Corbyn was the right person to lead Labour into the next election. Asked if he expected Corbyn to lead the party into the election, Kenny, whose union did not back a candidate in the leadership election, replied:

I hardly know where we are going to be at the end of this year. I think the world is moving very fast. I really don’t know if Jeremy intends to lead it into the next election. What I would like to think is that the Labour party will win back those millions of people it lost, and to that degree it has has to have a different message. Whether Jeremy is the right person to deliver that or not, I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see.

Asked if he had doubts about Corbyn, Kenny replied.

I just want to see. I don’t think any of us are quite clear exactly where the destination is yet. I haven’t seen exactly how the party will become more cohesive. I don’t think the rallies themselves, as enthusiastic as the support was, at this stage is enough for me to say I think, wherever we go in the country, people will flock to Labour.

Let’s see how we get on. Let’s see the real tests. Let’s see how the public react and let’s see, effectively, when the tests come, whether they are byelections or local government elections or indeed the election of mayor of London next year, let’s see what the voters say. Because at the end of the day they’re the important ones.

Paul Kenny
Paul Kenny Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

In a separate interview, on the Today programme, Dave Prentis, the Unison general secretary, suggested he had some reservations about John McDonnell’s appointment as shadow chancellor. Effectively he said McDonnell was on probation. Prentis, whose union did back Corbyn, said he was pleased about the shadow cabinet appointments generally. But when John Humphrys put it to him that McDonnell’s views may “scare” some people, he replied:

If he does scare people, as you are saying he may do, well, that may be taken into account ... Obviously, if John were not to succeed in the shadow cabinet, as with any shadow cabinet, that issue would be looked at by the leader of the party.

I think John is experienced enough to know that he does have to build his influence, he’s got to build his skills in bringing people on. He is in a position with his experience to do a good job. But the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

Dave Prentis
Dave Prentis Photograph: Rick Findler/PA

Updated

Here is a Guardian video with behind-the-scenes footage of Jeremy Corbyn on the day he won the Labour leadership.

Paul Kenny, the GMB general secretary, told the World at One that he could envisage his union campaigning for a no vote in the EU referendum. He said the GMB supported the EU, but that was because the EU stood for social protection as well as free movement.

He said it would be wrong for Labour to say it was going to support EU membership regardless of what David Cameron achieved in its renegotiation. And he said that, as far as he understood, that was Jeremy Corbyn’s position too.

Jeremy Corbyn is in the Commons for the opening of the debate on the trade union bill. Sajid Javid, the business secretary, is opening for the government. He started by congratulating Corbyn on his election. He said he and Corbyn had two things in common. First, they would never be seen eating a bacon sandwich. And, second, they both went into politics to improve the lives of their constituents.

Jeremy Corbyn on the Labour front bench

And here’s the picture.

Jeremy Corbyn on the Labour front bench
Jeremy Corbyn on the Labour front bench Photograph: BBC Parliament

Jeremy Corbyn is in the Commons chamber now on the front bench.

Labour Women’s Network, which supports women standing for election, obviously does not accept Jeremy Corbyn’s argument about “top jobs”. (See 2.04pm.) It has posted this on Twitter.

Margaret Curran, the former shadow Scottish secretary, has also complained about women not getting senior posts.

A left wing trade union which split from the Labour Party under Tony Blair has raised the prospect of reaffiliating under Jeremy Corbyn.

Speaking at a fringe event at the TUC in Brighton, Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigade’s Union, said the election of Corbyn had changed the political landscape.

“In 2004, after treatment by the Blair government, our conference voted to disaffiliate,” said Wrack. “It was a historic turning point, a rebellion against appealing treatment by a right wing pro-capitalist government against a group of workers simply for campaigning for pay.”

But he said Corbyn’s election meant the union may now consider rejoiniong.

“There is no question in my mind that this development over the weekend completely changes and raises new issues which the Labour movement and trade unions including ours, and I suspect including the RMT, will now have to think very carefully about.”

Mick Cash, general secretary of the RMT, said it had “no plans to reaffiliate”, saying that decision would be made by “rank and file members at our annual conference.” He added: “But we will continue to support John and Jeremy.”

It is not all bad news for the moderates in the Labour party. The party has just announced the results of the election that took place at the same time as the leadership election for two constituency Labour party representatives to sit on the conference arrangements committee. CAC sounds dull, but in practice it is important because it takes decisions about what can and cannot be debated at Labour conference (and, hence, indirectly, about what can and cannot become Labour policy).

There were five candidates. The two leftwing ones, Katy Clark, the former MP, and Jon Lansman, a key Corbyn supporter, were defeated and the two people elected were the former MEP Michael Cashman and the MP Gloria De Piero.

Margaret Beckett, the Labour former foreign secretary, was one of those MPs who nominated Jeremy Corbyn for the leadership so that he could get on the ballot without planning to vote for him. She now says it was one of the biggest mistakes of her career.

Lunchtime summary

  • John McDonnell, Jeremy Corbyn’s controversial appointment as shadow chancellor, has defended his appointment, saying that he has considerable experience in financial administration and that the economy would be safe in his hands. (See 10.05am.) But the appointment has alarmed some Labour MPs because McDonnell is seen as just as lefting as Corbyn, but even more factional. On the Today programme this morning, asked if he was 100% behind McDonnell’s appointment, Hilary Benn, the shadow foreign secretary, said: “This is the choice that Jeremy has made. I respect the choice that Jeremy has made as leader.” Here is an excerpt from a BBC profile of McDonnell, with links to some revealing blogs.

The man now in charge of Labour’s economic strategy is certainly not one to have minced his words over the years.

His Who’s Who entry talks of “generally fermenting the overthrow of capitalism”, and as BBC business editor Kamal Ahmed notes, he has argued in the past for the nationalisation of the UK’s banking system, a rapid expansion of public ownership and a new 60% tax rate for earnings over £100,000.

He says he is not a deficit denier. In his blog post last month McDonnell says: “We accept that cuts in public spending will help eliminate the deficit, but our cuts won’t be to the middle-and low-income earners and certainly not to the poor. Our cuts will be to the subsidies paid to landlords milking the housing benefit system, to the £93bn in subsidies to corporations, and to employers exploiting workers with low wages and leaving the rest of us to pick up the tab.”

As BBC economics editor Robert Peston says, McDonnell is unambiguous that “we believe that we can tackle the deficit by halting the tax cuts to the very rich and to corporations, by making sure they pay their taxes, and by investing in the housing and infrastructure a modern economy needs to get people back to work in good jobs”.

These tweets are from Philip Cowley, an academic with good links to the Labour whips because he wrote a book about a parliamentary revolts.

  • Hilary Benn, the shadow foreign secretary, has ruled out Labour campaigning for Britain to leave the EU. (See 8.48am.) But some confusion does remain about Corbyn’s stance, because John McDonnell suggested last night that Labour could support withdrawal (see 1.17pm) and it is said that Corbyn told Chuka Umunna yesterday that backing the out campaign was a possibility. (See 12.16pm.) And Newsnight’s Allegra Stratton has just tweeted this.
  • Corbyn has finished appointing his shadow cabinet. There are 16 women, and 15 men. (See 1.07pm.)
  • Corbyn and McDonnell have rejected claims that the fact that the shadow chancellor, shadow foreign secretary and shadow home secretary are all men, as well as the leader and deputy leader, shows that the reshuffle sidelines women. Corbyn said this was based on “18th century” assumptions about what the top jobs were. (See 2.04pm.) Public service roles were more important than being shadow chancellor, McDonnell said. (See 11.05am.) The Labour MP Diana Johnson was one of those who complained.

And this is from the Labour peer Lady Thornton.

  • Sky News has published a detailed account of what happened behind the scenes during the reshuffle yesterday. (See 12.44pm.)

Corbyn dismisses claims he sidelined women in his shadow cabinet reshuffle

Jeremy Corbyn has been speaking to the media outside Labour HQ. Here are the key points he made.

  • Corbyn said that he would be leading for Labour at PMQs on Wednesday and for the foreseeable future. He was responding to a question prompted by reports that he wants other Labour MPs to stand in for him on occasion. He confirmed that he wanted PMQs to change. He said:

I want PMQs to be done in a rather different way. I think a bit less theatre and bit more fact would be my ideas. And I think more MPs asking questions, not fewer. But obviously I will be there.

  • He dismissed claims that he had sidelined women by not giving them “top jobs” in his shadow cabinet. The assumption that the most important jobs were chancellor, foreign secretary and home secretary (the so-called great offices of state) were out of date, he told reporters.

You’re living in the 18th century. That’s when the great offices of state were decided. We have a shadow cabinet of a majority of women covering all areas of policy and public life and I think it’s a great team. And it reaches out to the entire party and I think that is a bit of an achievement, if I may so.

  • He played down the significance of policy disagreements in his team, saying he was “open to discussion” on issues.

We are open to discussion, we are open to debate ... Obviously policy debates will develop. Is there anything wrong in that?

Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn Photograph: Sky News

Jeremy Corbyn will join the privy council, Huffington Post’s Paul Waugh reports.

The World at One says John McDonnell, the new shadow chancellor, pulled out of an interview shortly before they went on air.

Leaders of the opposition, if not already members of the privy council, are always invited to join. Number 10 said today that Jeremy Corbyn had been offered a privy counsellorship, which would open the door to him receiving security briefings, but that Corbyn had not replied.

This morning Hilary Benn, the shadow foreign secretary, ruled out Labour campaigning for Britain to leave the EU. (See 8.48am.)

But in an interview last night with my colleague Rajeev Syal, John McDonnell, the new shadow chancellor, suggested that that was an option.

[McDonnell] told the Guardian that Labour under Corbyn would not give a “free pass” to David Cameron by saying whether it would support or reject an EU referendum.

He said: “Jeremy has made it clear that what we should be working with parties across Europe for is a reform package across Europe itself. Whatever Cameron comes back with, we will have to assess what that is. If it is any attack on employment rights or the promotion of TTIP [Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership] we will be rejecting that package, but we will have to come up with a reform programme as well. Jeremy has not supported withdrawal but has not given Cameron a free pass on it.”

Jeremy Corbyn's new shadow cabinet - the full list

Here is the full list of Jeremy Corbyn’s new shadow cabinet. Labour points out that 16 of the members are women, and 15 are men.

The wording, and the order of appointment, are exactly as they appear in the Labour press release.

Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party

Jeremy Corbyn MP

Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Party Chair and Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office

Tom Watson MP

Shadow First Secretary of State, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills

Angela Eagle MP

Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer

John McDonnell MP

Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Seema Malhotra MP

Shadow Home Secretary

Andy Burnham MP

Shadow Foreign Secretary

Hilary Benn MP

Opposition Chief Whip

Rosie Winterton MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Health

Heidi Alexander MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Education

Lucy Powell MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Owen Smith MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Defence

Maria Eagle MP

Shadow Lord Chancellor, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice

Lord Falconer of Thoroton

Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Shadow Minister for the Constitutional Convention

Jon Trickett MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change

Lisa Nandy MP

Shadow Leader of the House of Commons

Chris Bryant MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Transport

Lilian Greenwood MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Vernon Coaker MP

Shadow Secretary of State for International Development

Diane Abbott MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland

Ian Murray MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Wales

Nia Griffith MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Kerry McCarthy MP

Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities

Kate Green MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

Michael Dugher MP

Shadow Minister for Young People and Voter Registration

Gloria De Piero MP

Shadow Minister for Mental Health

Luciana Berger MP

Shadow Leader of the House of Lords

Baroness Smith of Basildon

Lords Chief Whip

Lord Bassam of Brighton

Shadow Attorney General

Catherine McKinnell MP

Shadow Minister without Portfolio

Jonathan Ashworth MP

Shadow Minister for Housing and Planning

John Healey MP

Other Announcements:

Yvette Cooper will continue her work on bringing together councils, faith groups, and community groups to respond to the refugee crisis. She will chair Labour’s task force on refugees.

Corbyn says shadow cabinet is 'a strong combination of change and continuity'

Here is Jeremy Corbyn’s statement about his new shadow cabinet.

We have delivered a unifying, dynamic, inclusive new shadow cabinet which for the first time ever has a majority of women.

I am delighted that we have established a shadow cabinet position for mental health which is a matter I have long been interested in.

Angela Eagle’s appointment as the shadow first secretary of state means she will deputise for me when David Cameron is not available for prime minister’s Questions.

The shadow cabinet is a strong combination of change and continuity that will now come together to hold this government to account, starting today with this pernicious trade union bill.

The full list of shadow cabinet appointments is now at 1.07pm.

Updated

How the Corbyn reshuffle was conducted - Sky reveals the inside story

Before he doorstepped Jeremy Corbyn outside the House of Commons (see 10.40am), Sky’s Darren McCaffrey spent the evening in Westminster, where Corbyn, Rosie Winterton, the Labour chief whip, and Simon Fletcher, Corbyn’s chief of staff, were carrying out the reshuffle behind closed doors. At that stage in the evening McCaffrey’s relations with Corbyn seem to have been quite cordial.

McCaffrey wasn’t in the room but, enterprising chap that he is, he managed to hear quite a lot of what was going. He has written it up on a Sky blog. And it is utterly fascinating.

It is also going to cause a mighty row. The Commons is a workplace, and lobby journalists are allowed on the understanding that they respect the right of MPs to hold meetings in private. There’s a long history behind this, about which I once wrote a book. McCaffrey will be accused of breaking the rules.

Still, it’s in the public domain now, and it’s a gripping read.

Here’s is an extract about why Chris Bryant did not get defence.

The phone calls continued but defence seemed like it had been settled.

It had been offered to Chris Bryant.

“Jeremy was up for it,” Rosie said on the phone, but then it fell apart, after Bryant insisted on “a 30 minute conversation about what would happen if we had to invade Russia.”

That was a conversation Jeremy clearly wasn’t prepared to have. Bryant was out.

Here is an extract about how someone else seems was offered the post.

Rosie was back on the phone, we couldn’t tell who with.

“Now, this might be a bit of an outside idea, how do you feel about being shadow defence secretary?”

A pause, “Just, what are your views on Trident?”

A much, much longer pause. “But, are you willing to engage in a debate?”

We don’t know who that was, but it was clear they were working through a list, and had reached a point in the list where due diligence hadn’t yet reached.

And here is an extract about Angela Eagle becoming shadow first secretary of state.

All the shadow cabinet top positions had gone to men, Labour MPs started to complain online, this is surely not what a Corbyn shadow cabinet was meant to look like.

Then a male voice, it sounded like Simon Fletcher.

“We are taking a fair amount of **** out there about women.

“We need to do a Mandelson. Let’s make Angela shadow first minster of state. Like Mandelson was. She can covered PMQs. Tom (Watson) knows about this. Do the Angela bit now.”

Minutes later a text from a Labour source. Angela Eagle was to be shadow first minister of state. She would deputise at Prime Minister Question Time.

Updated

Back to Labour and Europe, and whether or not the party could campaign for Britain to leave the European Union in the referendum. (See 8.48am.)

Even though Hilary Benn ruled out Labour backing the out campaign, a source with some knowledge of what happened said that, when Jeremy Corbyn met Chuka Umunna yesterday, Corbyn said that it was unlikely that he would campaign to leave the EU but that it was possible. Corbyn also argued that if he fully committed now to campaign for Britain to remain in the EU, David Cameron would effectively have a blank cheque.

Argentina’s ambassador to the UK, Alicia Castro, has described Jeremy Corbyn as “one of ‘ours’”, according to an interview she has given to the Pagina 12 newspaper. That’s because of his attitude to the Falklands. According to the Press Assocation, Castro said she felt “joy, a great satisfaction” when Corbyn was elected Labour leader. She said his victory was “without doubt” a sign of a “change of winds” in Britain over the Falklands.

In the end, he [Corbyn] is one of ‘ours’. Even today, when he comes to our embassy, he arrives with the same bicycle and the same enthusiasm. He is a friendly person with a sense humour, who knows how to listen ...

He participated in the meeting of pro dialogue groups from all over Europe that took place in 2013 in our London embassy and there he referred to the historic cultural links between our two nations, to our work to promote dialogue at parliamentary level, and he ended by saying that dialogue was possible and that attitudes are starting to change, that what was achieved in Northern Ireland can also be achieved here.

His leadership could decisively guide British public opinion towards favouring dialogue between the governments of the UK and Argentina, in keeping with the demands of the international community.

According to LabourList, Jon Trickett may be the new shadow communities secretary.

BBC’s Newsbeat has now posted online a transcript of the interview it conducted with Jeremy Corbyn on Saturday. It includes his comments about how he wants to change PMQs.

It is less than three hours until Greg Clark, the communities secretary, stands up in the Commons to take departmental questions. But the Labour party still has not said who will be responding to him as shadow communities secretary.

Caroline Flint says she did not want to serve in shadow cabinet

Caroline Flint, the former shadow energy secretary, has just released a statement explaining why she did not want to serve in the shadow cabinet. (She does not say whether or not she was offered a post.) Here’s an excerpt.

Yesterday lunchtime, I spoke to our chief whip Rosie Winterton. I informed her that, after careful consideration, I have decided I can best support the Labour party and the leadership from outside the shadow cabinet.

I also told her that I would not announce my decision until after key shadow cabinet appointments had been made public, as a courtesy to Jeremy Corbyn and his new team.

I have greatly enjoyed campaigning for the last four years for fair energy bills, to end the scandal of cold homes and for decisive action on climate change, so this was a hard decision to make.

In my deputy leader campaign, I spoke about my background and upbringing. My mum inspired me to join the Labour party. I am passionate about giving everyone an equal chance to get on in life, leaving no child behind, especially children whose hopes and dreams are limited by who their parents are or their postcode. I now want to focus on this, and how we get more people from welfare into rewarding work.

Caroline Flint
Caroline Flint Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

The Conservatives have been trying to depict Jeremy Corbyn as a threat to national security, and they have now released an attack video making their case. It combines criticism of his unilateralism and his scepticism about defence spending, which are key ingredients of Corbyn’s politics, with the quotes about Osama bin Laden’s death being a “tragedy” and Hamas and Hezbollah being “friends”, where Corbyn has claimed his words have been open to some degree of misinterpretation.

McDonnell says assumptions about top cabinet jobs partly based on outdated, 19th century thinking

Here is a longer quote from John McDonnell, the new shadow chancellor, explaining why he does not accept that the posts of shadow chancellor or shadow foreign secretary are more important than shadow education secretary, or shadow health secretary. In part that assumption is a hangover from the 19th century, he told Sky News.

He also said that in some ways the shadow chancellor would “play less of a role” than shadow ministers in public spending departments.

(As I said earlier, most MPs would not accept this argument because it is the chancellor who ultimately decides how much money the other ministers spend.)

Here’s the key quote.

Jeremy said very, very clearly we don’t accept the hierarchical nature of what we’ve inherited by these supposed top jobs. They largely stem from the 19th century when we had an empire and all that. For most people the real top jobs are the ones that provide the services on health and education and those sorts of things. So he has broken with that tradition, and I’m really pleased. The [shadow] cabinet looks as though it will be completely gender balanced, but also the whole administration I think will be gender balanced ...

They are not top jobs. I don’t accept that. You can’t say that foreign secretary is more important than delivering education to our children, or the health of the population. We don’t accept those hierarchies ...

You’ll see in future that the person responsible for education or health, those real concrete services, will be the people that will be out there, arguing the policies. In some ways the chancellor of the exchequer will play less of a role because it will be the people delivering the real services.

Here’s a clip. There is a fuller version on a clip posted on the Corbyn campaign’s Facebook page.

Updated

John Bercow address the TUC

Commons speaker John Bercow has just become the first speaker of the Commons to address the TUC, treating delegates to a somewhat shaky impression of the late Tony Benn and calling for more respect for the “important work” trade unions do.

During a speech in which he avoided mentioning the Tory’s trade union bill due to go before Commons this afternoon, seen by critics as the most serious attack on worker’s rights in a generation, Bercow nevertheless set a very different tone to government ministers, telling delegates: “I am proud to be here among your number proud to be your guest and I say that because I respect and admire the invaluable and precious work you do in promoting fairness in the workplace and the wider work you do in pursuit of greater equality across society.”

John Bercow
John Bercow Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Corbyn v Sky News - What it tells us

Sky’s Darren McCaffrey doorstepped Jeremy Corbyn as Corbyn was leaving the House of Commons last night after working on his reshuffle. It was not a full-on, Gobby-style, ‘Are you going to resign?’ job, but it irritated Corbyn, who refused to engage with McCaffrey’s questions.

Here is the video.

In the clip Corbyn tells a colleague that the reporters are “bothering” him. He does not lose his temper, but he looks sullen.

Does it tell us anything? In his first 48 hours as Labour leader Corbyn has done nothing to conceal his contempt for much of the media - he had a significant passage in his acceptance speech attacking the press, and he pulled out of an interview on the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, prioritising a constituency engagement instead - and he may well be right in thinking that, in the age of digital media, papers and TV count for a lot less than they used to. This clip seems to encapsulate a lot of his feelings about journalists.

But, as Labour leader, he’s going to have to get used to being doorstepped by annoying reporters, and there are better ways of handling these situations. It is not hard to come up with a polite way of saying no comment. Footage like this makes him look like someone who has done something wrong, which of course he hasn’t.

McDonnell says being shadow chancellor no more important than being shadow education secretary

John McDonnell, the new shadow chancellor, has been speaking to reporters this morning. Here are some of the key points he made.

  • McDonnell insisted that he was qualified to be shadow chancellor, saying he was “chancellor of the exchequer for London” at the age of 29. He was the GLC’s chair of finance.

Remember, I’ve got a long history in terms of financial administration. I’ve been chancellor of the exchequer for London at the age of 29 and I’ve been in various administrative jobs, chief executive of the Local Government Association, and I’ve worked on the shopfloor, and I’ve been in parliament a long time. I’ve not held office because I’ve disagreed with a lot of the New Labour policies, but my new policies, with Jeremy [Corbyn’s] have been roundly endorsed by the leadership election.

  • He said that he and Corbyn wanted to persuade colleagues to back their economic policies.

What we will try and do now is convince our colleagues in parliament of the need for change. That’s within all political parties, not just the parliamentary Labour party. But [we also need to] convince the public as well.

  • He said the economy would be safe in his hands.

The economy would be safe in our hands, but also more prosperous.

  • He said being shadow chancellor was not more important than being shadow education secretary.

(Very few people at Westminster would accept this assertion, for the simple reason that it is the chancellor who decides how much money the education secretary gets to spend on schools.)

  • He dismissed claims that women were being excluded from top jobs in the shadow cabinet.

Updated

Chris Bryant says serving in Corbyn's shadow cabinet will be 'difficult'

Chris Bryant, who is moving from shadow culture secretary to shadow leader of the Commons after turning down defence, told BBC Radio Wales this morning why he did not want that post.

I think Jeremy needs somebody in that particular portfolio where he and that person are rather more at one than I could be. As it happens, I’m a sceptic about Trident but on Nato and on defence I believe that the first thing that a government has to do is protect its people. I worry that we have not got enough proper armed forces in this country to be able to defend ourselves ...

It’s difficult and I think it is going to be a bit of a bumpy ride because there are issues on which - they are not light issues - I profoundly disagree with him, like on Nato, Russia and things like that.

Chris Bryant
Chris Bryant. Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet appointments

Here are the shadow cabinet appointments we’ve had from Jeremy Corbyn.

I will be updating this list as more names come in.

All these appointments have been formally announced by the Labour party, apart from Chris Bryant’s (which he has confirmed on Twitter) and Vernon Coaker’s (which has been confirmed by the BBC).

Shadow chancellor - John McDonnell

Shadow home secretary - Andy Burnham

Shadow foreign secretary - Hilary Benn

Shadow business secretary, and shadow first secretary of state (deputising for Corbyn at PMQs when Corbyn not present) - Angela Eagle

Chief whip - Rosie Winterton

Shadow health secretary - Heidi Alexander

Shadow justice secretary - Lord Falconer

Shadow leader of the Commons - Chris Bryant

Shadow international development secretary - Diane Abbott

Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury - Seema Malhotra

Shadow Scottish secretary - Ian Murray

Shadow Northern Ireland secretary - Vernon Coaker

In addition, Yvette Cooper, the former shadow home secretary, will chair Labour’s taskforce on refugees.

As LabourList reports on its blog, Michael Dugher is expected to become shadow culture secretary. LabourList says there are also rumours about Owen Smith becoming shadow work and pensions secretary, and Gloria De Piero becoming shadow defence secretary.

Updated

Benn rules out Labour backing an out vote on Europe - Summary and analysis

Yesterday Chuka Umunna, the former shadow business secretary, said he could not serve in the shadow cabinet because Corbyn refused to rule out campaigning for Britain to leave the EU. After a conversation with Corbyn, Umunna issued this statement.

It is my view that we should support the UK remaining a member of the EU, notwithstanding the outcome of any renegotiation by the prime minister, and I cannot envisage any circumstances where I would be campaigning alongside those who would argue for us to leave; Jeremy has made it clear to me that he does not wholeheartedly share this view.

But in his Today interview Hilary Benn, who has just been reappointed as shadow foreign secretary, said Labour was ruling out a campaign for an out vote in all circumstances. He was speaking to John Humphrys. Here is the key exchange.

HB: Jeremy said whatever differences we may have with some aspects of European policy, whatever reforms we want to see, we will stay to fight together for a better Europe. Our policy has not changed.

JH: So why did Chuka Umunna say that he would not rule out campaigning to leave the European Union?

HB: You would have to ask Chuka that.

JH: Has he ruled that out? You are absolutely certain that Mr Corbyn has ruled out, under any circumstances, campaigning to leave the European Union?

HB: Jeremy has made it very clear that we are going to stay to fight together for a better Europe. We will be campaigning to remain in the European Union.

JH: Under all circumstances?

HB: Under all circumstances, because - look at the refugee crisis that we are facing. The truth is, we have got to work in alliance and cooperation with our European allies. And the big choice for Britain will be are we going to be an inward looking, or an outward facing country.

Here’s some Twitter reaction from two Guardian colleagues.

How do we resolve this? Or, to put it another way, who was right? Chuka Umunna or Hilary Benn?

Benn is now the party spokesman on foreign affairs. Until we hear otherwise, we must assume he is speaking for the party.

Perhaps Umunna misunderstood Corbyn in their conversation. That seems unlikely.

Perhaps “the line” has firmed up overnight. Or perhaps Benn is using his authority to assert policy in this area. Both of those explanations seem credible.

Or perhaps, when Corbyn told Umunna that he would not rule out campaigning to leave the EU, he was talking about his personal position, not the party’s one. This may sound a bit strange, but there is already speculation that Corbyn will have to offer Labour MPs a free vote on this issue (a move which would put David Cameron under added pressure to abandon collective responsibility too, and give his ministers the right to campaign for an out vote). Did Umunna pick up a steer that Corbyn himself may under up “rebelling” against the policy of his shadow foreign secretary? I’m well into the realms of speculation here, but the Labour party is in new territory, and stranger things have happened.

Hilary Benn
Hilary Benn. Photograph: Lynne Cameron/PA

Updated

Q: Will Corbyn be able to hold this whole thing together?

It is a big change, says Benn. But Labour MPs have to support him.

As the public see more of him, and hear what he has to say, people will welcome that, he says.

Benn says Corbyn respects people who have different views.

Q: He does not respect women much? None of the top five jobs has gone to a woman.

Benn says two of those jobs - leader and deputy leader - were elected by members.

Diane Abbott is shadow international development secretary, he says. Lucy Powell is shadow education secretary. And Angela Eagle is shadow business secretary, he says.

Benn appears to rule out Labour backing an out vote in the EU referendum

Q: Corbyn would not mind if we left Europe.

Benn says that is not Corbyn’s position.

He says that Corbyn wants the EU to work better for working people. That is Benn’s view too, he says.

Q: So why did Chuka Umunna say that Corbyn had not ruled out campaigning to leave the EU?

You’ll have to ask Umunna, Benn says.

Q: Has Corbyn ruled out campaigning to leave the EU?

Benn says Corbyn wants to stay in the EU.

Q: In all circumstances?

In all circumstances, Benn says.

  • Benn appears to rule out Labour backing an out vote in the EU referendum.

Hilary Benn's Today interview

Hilary Benn is on now.

Q: Are you 100% behind the appointment of McDonnell?

Benn says he respects the choice Corbyn has made as leader.

Labour lost the trust of the public on the economy, he says.

He says McDonnell’s first job will be to win the trust of the public.

The party will rally round McDonnell in opposing cuts to tax credits being voted on in the Commons on Tuesday. So there is space for an alternative economic view to the government’s.

Q: But do you welcome McDonnell’s appointment?

Benn says he welcomes everyone serving in the shadow cabinet. Corbyn won a thumping victory, he says.

Corbyn is appointing people, some of whom have different political views. That shows he is committed to a different kind of politics. Then it will be up to the shadow cabinet, and the party, to arrive at a view.

Updated

Charles Clarke says he is dismayed by John McDonnell’s appointment. It undermines what Jeremy Corbyn said in the campaign about wanting to unite the party, he says.

He says McDonnell will not provide “a credible alternative” to the Tories.

Q: In practical terms, what does that mean?

Clarke says Labour MPs will start trying themselves to develop an alternative economic strategy to McDonnell’s. They will not support his, Clarke says.

He says the shadow cabinet must be an alternative to the real cabinet. It needs to have the confidence of MPs.

John Humphrys is interviewing Hilary Benn, the shadow foreign secretary, and Charles Clarke, the Labour former home secretary.

Laura Kuenssberg, the BBC’s political editor, introduces the package by saying that Jeremy Corbyn was warned not to appoint John McDonnell. He was told it would be seen as a declaration of war against colleagues, she says.

Jeremy Corbyn has announced the names of the first people appointed to his shadow cabinet and he’s generating controversy. Here’s the Guardian’s splash, and here’s how it starts.

Jeremy Corbyn, the new Labour leader, is facing the first test of his new political mandate after appointing his closest political ally, John McDonnell, as shadow chancellor. The decision means that the five most senior positions will be filled by men, including Andy Burnham as shadow home secretary and Hilary Benn as shadow foreign secretary.

There had been fierce resistance within the shadow cabinet and even among some union leaders to the appointment of McDonnell, with some asking Corbyn to appoint Angela Eagle as shadow chancellor, to balance the shadow cabinet politically and by gender. Eagle was instead given the post of shadow business secretary and will also become shadow first secretary of state, deputising for Corbyn in the Commons.

McDonnell was Corbyn’s leadership campaign manager and has advocated nationalisation without compensation in the past as well as 60p tax rates. Inside the parliamentary party, his appointment was seen as a disavowal of Corbyn’s commitment to create a political consensus.

The lack of high-profile jobs for women went down badly with many.

Hilary Benn, who has been reappointed as shadow foreign secretary, is about to speak on the Today programme. I will be covering the interview in full.

And, as the day goes on, I will be covering any more appointments that come, and reaction to them.

Later, at 3.30pm, MPs will start debating the trade union bill.

As usual, I will also be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I will post a summary at lunchtime.

If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on@AndrewSparrow

Updated

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