Labour At War Over Livingstone Trident Job

A vicious row has erupted in the Labour party after Jeremy Corbyn appointed his close ally Ken Livingstone to lead a defence review.

The surprise appointment triggered an angry backlash from Labour MPs, with former defence minister Kevan Jones saying his role would "damage our credibility".

Mr Livingstone responded by saying Mr Jones "might need some psychiatric help" and should see his GP for depression.

Mr Jones gave a moving speech to the House of Commons in 2012 in which he recounted his 1996 battle with depression, winning plaudits for raising mental health issues in such a prominent way.

The former mayor of London's comments sparked calls for an apology from Labour backbenchers and Jeremy Corbyn's spokesman has said he must say sorry.

The former mayor of London has since told Sky News he was not aware of Mr Jones's mental health problems but he has refused to apologise for his comments.

Mr Livingstone told Sky News: "We're all sick and tired of these Labour MPs undermining the leadership. Kevan Jones and other have got to stop doing that."

The Labour veteran, an anti-nuclear campaigner, will work alongside the shadow defence secretary Maria Eagle on the party's defence review, which will assess what the party's position should be on renewing Trident (BSE: TRIDENT.BO - news) .

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

Many Labour MPs are 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.

Mr Jones told Politics Home Mr Livingstone's appointment would "damage our credibility" and added: "I'm not sure Ken knows anything about defence."

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."

:: PM Says Britain Must Strike At IS In Syria

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."