Anger As Corbyn Gives Livingstone Trident Job

Jeremy Corbyn has put his close ally Ken Livingstone in charge of a review of Labour's position on the Trident (BSE: TRIDENT.BO - news) nuclear deterrent.

The former London mayor, an anti-nuclear campaigner, will work alongside the shadow defence secretary Maria Eagle on the party's defence review.

The two are at odds over Trident. Ms Eagle supports keeping the deterrent, while, in a recent interview, Mr Livingstone called her "mad" for backing it.

Mr Livingstone's appointment triggered fresh anger from many Labour MPs, already at odds with Mr Corbyn over his recent stance on the police shoot-to-kill policy and the drone strike against Mohammed Emwazi, known as Jihadi John.

:: MP Sorry For Corbyn Shoot-To-Kill Confusion

The Labour leader also drew fire for his refusal to criticise the Stop the War organisation after it blamed the Paris attacks on Western intervention in the Middle East.

Former defence minister Kevan Jones told Politics Home Mr Livingstone's appointment would "damage our credibility".

He said: "I'm not sure Ken knows anything about defence."

Mr Livingston hit back telling the Mirror: "I think he might need some psychiatric help. He's obviously very depressed and disturbed. He should pop off and see his GP."

Mr Jones gave a speech in the House of Commons in 2012 about his battle with depression in 1996, which won him plaudits for raising awareness on mental health.

Backbencher Wes Streeting posted a link on social media to a report in which Mr Livingstone said "the endless interventions of Britain and America and France in Arab countries ... has come back to haunt us".

Mr Streeting posted: "Is this the same Ken Livingstone co-chairing Labour's defence review?"

While Barrow MP John Woodcock tweeted: "Every new day I think we have much reached the summit, but no: there always remains a fresh provocative absurdity."

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On Tuesday, Mr Woodcock apologised to Sky News viewers for the confusion over Labour's position on the police shoot-to-kill policy after Mr Corbyn said he was "not happy" about it.

Shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn had already put himself at odds with the Labour leader on the matter saying the policy was "right and reasonable where there's immediate threat to life"

:: Labour Will Not Back Trident After Union Blow

Mr Corbyn later backtracked on the comments he made saying he would "support the use of whatever proportionate and strictly necessary force is required to save life in response to attacks of the kind we saw in Paris".

There were heated scenes at the Parliamentary Labour Party meeting on Monday when the Labour leader was challenged by a number of his own MPs on his response to the Paris attacks.

The recommendations of the Trident review will be put to the National Policy Forum (NPF) before being taken to party conference.

Mr Corbyn, who is a vice-president of CND, has made clear his opposition to Trident and says he hopes to win round Labour MPs who are in favour of retaining the deterrent.

They include Mr Benn and shadow Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer.

Mr Livingstone, who disclosed details of his appointment at a book club, has also backed Mr Corbyn's decision not to allow a free vote of Labour MPs on expanding airstrikes to include Syria.

Responding to a call for a free vote by former shadow minister Emma Reynolds, he tweeted: "If pro-war MPs want to support a war they should accept that there is a whip and decide whether to break it."