+

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

Close
HomeQuizzoneWhatsappShare Flash Reads
 

Labour's Clive Lewis is furious after Corbyn's spin-doctor made a last-second change to his defence speech

Sep 26, 2016, 21:49 IST

Advertisement
Chris Ship/Twitter

Labour MP Clive Lewis could barely contain his anger after discovering Jeremy Corbyn's chief press officer, Seumas Milne, edited his speech on the party's defence policy just moments before he took to the stage.

Lewis, a supporter of Corbyn's leadership, was set to say Labour "would not seek to change" its support for the renewal of the Trident submarine nuclear deterrent system, in a fringe event at the party's conference in Liverpool.

However, literally seconds before taking to the stage on Monday afternoon, the Shadow Defence Secretary's script was edited by Milne, who cut the above line from the script altogether, according to Politics Home.

ITV's Chris Ship posted footage on Twitter which allegedly shows the moment Lewis found out about the last-minute edit. He is visibly furious. Watch the footage for yourself.

Advertisement

Lewis is one of the few Labour MPs who stuck by Corbyn during the Labour leader's turbulent summer, which makes this humiliating episode even more worrying. A source close to the party said the MP was so "fuming" when he left the stage that he"punched a wall".

Politics Home says that Lewis and Corbyn had both agreed on the wording of the speech. Milne, however, over-ruled the pair and informed Lewis by a post-note as the MP for Norwich South was seated on stage waiting to talk.

A spokesman for Mr Corbyn said: "All speeches are put together in conjunction with the leader's office. It was confirmed to Clive that the agreed speech had been amended on the autocue."

Lewis is one of the Labour's most promising talents and has been tipped to lead the party in the decades to come. 

NOW WATCH: Clinton opens up a massive lead against Trump, with lopsided support from a key voting demographic

Please enable Javascript to watch this video
You are subscribed to notifications!
Looks like you've blocked notifications!
Next Article