UPDATE: Emily Thornberry has released the following statement:
“Earlier today I sent a tweet which has caused offence to some people. That was never my intention and I have apologised.
“However I will not let anything distract from Labour’s chance to win the coming General Election.
“I have therefore tonight told Ed Miliband I will resign from the shadow cabinet.”
Thornberry reportedly had a private dressing-down from Miliband earlier today. A source tells LabourList: “Ed and Emily had a second conversation. She thought the right thing to do was to resign. Ed agreed.”
UPDATE II: Ed Miliband, who sources suggest was the angriest he’s ever been yesterday, has given his take on the tweet, saying it “conveyed a sense of disrespect” and an idea that it was wrong or unusual to fly the England flag.
“That is not my view, that is not Labour’s view, that will never be Labour’s view.”
—-
Emily Thornberry – the Shadow Attorney General – has resigned from the Shadow Cabinet this evening, following the backlash to a tweet the Islington South MP sent this afternoon whilst in Rochester. The tweet – of a white van and a house flying three St George’s flags outside a house – has been attacked by opposition MPs and some within the Labour Party. Thornberry apologised following a discussion with Ed Miliband this evening, but has now resigned.
A full statement will be released soon, but here’s tomorrow’s front page of The Sun, which gives a flavour of the coverage the tweet has received:
More from LabourList
Humza Yousaf woes deepen as Labour files no-confidence vote in government
‘History and poll leads suggest Labour can be bolder, even if it costs some votes’
Labour warned ‘ethical foreign policy’ inevitably sparks charge of ‘hypocrisy’