Jeremy Corbyn visits Scotland to ‘win back trust’

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is in Scotland today to meet with the Scottish party on how to “win back trust” in Scotland.

It is the first time since becoming leader he has visited Scotland.

He will hold talks in Glasgow and Edinburgh with trade union leaders and councils as well as visiting the Scottish Parliament, telling activists he will not interfere in the running of the party in Scotland.

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“Under my leadership there will be no question about who is in charge of the Scottish Labour Party. Kezia Dugdale is leader of our party in Scotland and I will be working alongside her to win back support for Labour,” he said, ahead of the visit.

The SNP called on the Labour leader to use the trip to clarify the party’s position on Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons system.

Corbyn, who is vice chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said he would not use nuclear weapons if he was prime minister in a radio interview yesterday. “We are not in the era of the cold war anymore,” he said.

Shadow Defence Secretary Maria Eagle she was “surprised he answered the question in the way that he did", saying it "undermined to some degree" Labour's policy process. 

The official party policy is to replace Trident with a new nuclear weapons system at a cost of up to £100bn.

SNP Depute Leader Stewart Hosie said: “After days of chaos and infighting, Jeremy Corbyn must use his trip to Scotland to make clear whether he is leading Labour - or whether Labour is leading him.”