Jeremy Corbyn has been challenged over party discipline at a shadow cabinet meeting for allowing his frontbench allies Ian Lavery and Jon Trickett to vote against a second referendum in defiance of a three-line whip.
Shadow cabinet sources said the Labour leader was tackled multiple times during Tuesday’s meeting over the lack of frontbench unity, amid calls from backbench MPs for Lavery and Trickett to be sacked.
Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, is understood to have suggested the situation was unfair when she had followed the three-line whip despite having reservations about a second referendum.
One shadow cabinet source said she had not been criticising Lavery and Trickett for their stance on the issue but had wanted to raise the lack of clarity over how abstentions would be dealt with, as well as the party’s shift towards apparently straightforwardly supporting a backbench second referendum motion rather than having its own more nuanced position.
Four other shadow cabinet sources said the issue of discipline was raised numerous times without mentioning Trickett and Lavery by name but it was obvious what was being referenced. Indirect criticism came from Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, and Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, who stressed the importance of shadow cabinet unity and facing up to difficult choices.
It is understood Corbyn did not give an answer and said it would be dealt with later in the meeting by Nick Brown, the chief whip, who also gave no explanation. Lavery, the party chair, and Trickett, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, were both present but did not speak on the subject.
Gloria De Piero, a shadow justice minister and MP for Ashfield, also abstained. She explained her position on Twitter: “Ashfield delegates voted against a second referendum at Labour conference. Many Ashfield members voted to leave the EU. None of this is easy but we should recognise that Labour membership in towns like Ashfield is so much smaller so their voice can’t compete with mass memberships in big cities.”
Before last week’s votes, Corbyn’s spokesman stressed the unique, non-binding nature of the process. A Labour spokesman said: “The circumstances of last night’s votes were exceptional. But it’s clear we need to find common ground in parliament to stop either a disastrous no-deal Brexit or the prime minister’s botched deal. Labour is well placed to lead these efforts as our MPs represent constituencies that voted both leave and remain. It is now a matter for the leader and the whips.”
Trickett, Lavery and Rayner were among a large group of shadow cabinet ministers who went to see Corbyn last week to protest against the party’s decision to whip for a second referendum. Corbyn subsequently issued a letter to Labour MPs saying the party was only recommending voting for a referendum to keep the option on the table, as the party’s conference policy demanded.
The indicative vote on a second, confirmatory referendum for any Brexit deal lost by a margin of only 12, with 16 Labour MPs – including Lavery and Trickett – abstaining and 24 voting against, mostly representing leave-dominated seats.
Several backbench Labour MPs called for Lavery and Trickett to lose their jobs.
Neil Coyle, a backbench Labour MP, told PoliticsHome: “It’s clear the party chair has a problem representing members’ views, sadly. But Ian is not a backbencher representing a local concern. He is supposed to be the voice of members up and down the country at the top table of the Labour party.
“If you’re supposed to be chair of the Labour party but your votes align more closely with the ERG than with Labour members then it’s obviously time to go.”
Former frontbencher Ian Murray also said: “You either serve in the shadow cabinet or you break the whip. You can’t do both. It’s a choice you have to make.
“Can you imagine saying to a football referee that you are happy to play football under Fifa rules but if he shows you a red card you won’t leave the field? It’s ridiculous and is a slap in the face to those who do comply in the shadow cabinet and is an act of extreme disloyalty to the leadership.”
There were also recriminations on Tuesday between soft Brexiters and those in the people’s vote campaign who rejected less hardline alternatives to Theresa May’s deal such as the customs union and common market 2.0.
The vote for Brexit with a customs union was lost by just three votes, with 10 Labour MPs ticking the “no” box on the voting forms. These were mainly from leave seats, but also included the remainer Owen Smith. Three abstained, all from the party’s remain wing.
With common market 2.0, which the Labour leadership decided to back, 25 of its MPs defied the whip, again mainly from leave seats along with Smith, and 33 others abstained.
Sources in the People’s Vote campaign defended their decision not to back soft Brexit options, saying allowing them to go through would have killed off the second referendum campaign entirely.
