Tower Hamlets MPs defy party leader Corbyn and vote in favour of Trident renewal

Tower Hamlets’ MPs joined Labour rebels and the Government ‘Aye’ voting lobby in Parliament last night after the Government called a vote on the future of UK’s nuclear deterrent to exploit division in the Labour party.

Rushanara Ali, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, and Jim Fitzpatrick, MP for Poplar and Limehouse, joined 138 other Labour MPs in supporting the renewal of Trident.

After more than five hours of debate, MPs voted in favour of renewal by a majority of 355.

Although Jeremy Corbyn is opposed to the renewal of Trident, official Labour Party policy is still to support the nuclear deterrence and the party fought the last General Election on that platform.

However, the vote was seen by many as a political manoeuvre to highlight Labour party splits by former Prime Minister David Cameron, as the decision does not put into motion any renewal plan or allocate funding.

Labour’s MPs were split three-way on the vote, with 140 voting in favour of Trident renewal, 47 supporting their leader Jeremy Corbyn in voting against and 41 abstaining or absent.