Labour reshuffle set to take place in middle of next week, John McDonnell suggests

Labour’s latest reshuffle will not be completed until the middle of next week, John McDonnell indicated today.

The shadow chancellor said the shake-up, triggered by the resignation of three shadow cabinet ministers including Rachael Maskell and Dawn Butler yesterday, will be carried “after the parliamentary process”.

The bill, which enacts article 50, is expected to complete its Commons stages next Wednesday evening.

Several junior shadow ministers could, however, keep their roles despite taking part in last night’s Brexit rebellion. The usual expectation is that any front bencher who votes against the whip will resign but several remain in place this morning and McDonnell suggested that only members of Corbyn’s top team would have to step down.

“The parliamentary convention will apply which is that if you are in cabinet or shadow cabinet you will stand down. For other positions that will be for the chief whip to report and that will be in due course,” McDonnell said.

“The normal process is the the chief whip will then report after the legislation is through. It will be after the parliamentary process in the commons.”

McDonnell also made the bold forecast that “this Tory party will split apart” over the issue of Brexit, when he spoke to the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.

Labour would come together because of “the nature of Jeremy Corbyn’s politics – that consensual, mutual respect politics will be the one that holds our party together in that united fashion to protect our community”,” he added.

“We’re democrats and respect the referendum” he said, and highlighted the fact two Lib Dems voted against their leader, Tim Farron,

You can see the full breakdown of how Labour MPs voted here.

McDonnell said Labour accepted the result of last year’s poll insisted the party will not support “a blank cheque for Theresa May for what she, and others, are describing as a hard Brexit”.

Butler, who resigned her position as shadow minister for diverse communities to vote against article 50, told BBC Radio London, “I’ve always been consistent all along on this issue. I was a member of the Council of Europe. I saw first-hand just how important it is for us to have this close working relationship with our European counterparts and this government did nothing to move me from my position… My constituents wanted me to represent their views as well. I thought it was the right thing to do.”

“I didn’t want the prime minister to think that this is right or she’s doing a good job because really she should not have presented a bill like that to Parliament. It’s embarrassing. I hope that the prime minister will look at the fact that over 100 MPs voted against second reading and I hope that when she does she will instruct her MPs to vote for these amendments, because this bill has to be approved. This is one of the most important decisions this country’s ever going to make and it was an 145 word bill so these amendments have to be accepted to approve this bill,” she added.

David Lammy, the MP for heavily Remain-backing Tottenham who has been a vocal proponent of the need to vote against Brexit in the House, tweeted yesterday:

I just voted against Brexit Bill and triggering Article 50 at 2nd Reading. I did so with a clear conscience and I will do so again next week

— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) February 1, 2017