Trouble for Jeremy Corbyn as frontbencher Kevan Jones quits

The latest Labour frontbencher to quit over Jeremy Corbyn’s ‘revenge reshuffle’ has accused the party leadership of dishonesty and warned that voters would be dismayed by the changes.

Kevan Jones claimed his former boss Maria Eagle, a supporter of Trident, had been moved from the defence brief against her will despite briefings that taking on the shadow culture secretary role was her “dream”.

The former shadow defence spokesman said there had been “nothing straightforward or honest” about the way the reshuffle had been carried out and claimed Labour was being run in a “very top-down” manner.

Mr Corbyn was hit with three quick-fire resignations from his front bench after he sacked two “disloyal” senior figures and promoted a Trident opponent in a reshuffle that took more than 30 hours.

Mr Jones followed Jonathan Reynolds and Stephen Doughty in walking out, citing differences with the Labour leader on key policy issues and the treatment of their colleagues.

Read in full the three resignation letters sent to @jeremycorbyn today https://t.co/UUzsXpKg0q pic.twitter.com/s1VWhCiL4W

— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 6, 2016

The North Durham MP told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: “Jeremy was elected with the strapline ‘straight talking, honest politics’.

"There has been nothing straightforward or honest about what’s gone on over the last 48 hours.

“Maria, it’s now being briefed that this was her dream job and she wanted to do it.

"That is not the case. She did not want to move. She made that point very clear.

“Both Maria and myself were appointed when Jeremy was elected. He knew our views on the nuclear deterrent.”

Mr Jones said he “personally got on very well” with Mr Corbyn but believed “the people around him are advising him very badly”.

“If you agree with the leader, that’s fine, if you don’t then there is no entering into discussions,” he added.

The MP, a minister under Gordon Brown, said Tom Watson believed appointing Emily Thornberry as shadow defence secretary was a mistake — something the deputy leader denied on Twitter.

Cardiff South and Penarth MP Stephen Doughty quit as shadow foreign affairs minister live on television, telling the BBC’s Daily Politics programme that he had “looked at his own conscience” and was stepping down after the leader’s office told “lies” about the reasons why Europe spokesman Pat McFadden had been dismissed.