Brexit: 'Half' of Labour top team set to resign

Up to half of the shadow cabinet is set to resign in a bid to oust Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, it is understood.

It follows shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn's sacking after he told the leader he had "lost confidence" in him.

Hours later, shadow health secretary Heidi Alexander said she would resign.

Mr Corbyn faces a vote of no confidence over claims he was "lacklustre" during the EU referendum - but shadow chancellor John McDonnell said Mr Corbyn was "not going anywhere".

Sources close to the Labour leader have said he would stand again in the event of any leadership election - and Mr McDonnell said he would chair his campaign again, as he ruled out ever standing for the leadership himself.

Meanwhile, a shadow cabinet member told the BBC: "I imagine that there'll be a leadership election and Jeremy will win. But this is a total distraction."

Iain Murray, shadow Scottish secretary and Labour's only Scottish MP, and Lillian Greenwood, who holds the shadow transport brief, are also expected to resign from the Labour front bench later on Sunday, BBC political editor Laura Kuennssberg said.

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On the sacking of Hilary Benn, a Labour source told the BBC Mr Corbyn had "lost confidence" in the shadow foreign secretary.

Newspaper reports suggested Mr Benn had been encouraging shadow ministers to resign if Mr Corbyn ignored a motion of no confidence.

Mr Benn said there was concern about Mr Corbyn's "leadership and his ability to win an election".

He said he had phoned the Labour leader to tell him "I had lost confidence in his ability to lead the party and he dismissed me".Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Mr Benn said: "At this absolutely critical time for our country following the EU referendum result, the Labour Party needs strong and effective leadership to hold the government to account.

"We don't currently have that and there is also no confidence we would be able to win a general election as long as Jeremy remains leader. And I felt it was important to say that."

Asked if he thought Mr Corbyn should resign, he said he did but added "that is a matter for him".

Mr Benn also ruled out standing for the Labour leadership.

Analysis

By Chris Mason, BBC political correspondent

We expect further shadow cabinet ministers to resign in the coming hours.

Why? In essence because they felt that Jeremy Corbyn was driving with the handbrake on during the EU referendum campaign, just wasn't putting enough into it and also, and crucially, many Labour MPs think now, given that there is going to be a new prime minister soon, there is the real prospect of a general election sooner rather than later.

And they fear, in the words of one Labour MP yesterday, that if Jeremy Corbyn is leading the party at that general election that Labour will be wiped out.

But despite all this turbulence at Westminster that doesn't guarantee, from the perspective of MPs, that they will succeed in getting rid of him.

That's because - and this gulf within the Labour movement is still as wide now as it's ever been - loads of party members and Labour supporters think Jeremy Corbyn is brilliant.The Labour Party campaigned for Remain during the referendum, which saw the UK voting to leave the EU by 52% to 48% on Thursday.

But Mr Corbyn - who has been a long-standing critic of the EU and who is regarded as the most Eurosceptic Labour leader in years - was criticised by some in his party for not making the case for the EU forcefully enough.

Hours after Mr Benn's sacking, shadow health secretary Ms Alexander, who joined Mr Corbyn's shadow cabinet last year, tweeted: "It is with a heavy heart that I have this morning resigned from the shadow cabinet."

In a letter to the Labour leader, she wrote: "Our country needs an effective opposition which can hold the government to account."The letter continued: "As much as I respect you as a man of principle, I do not believe you have the capacity to shape the answers our country is demanding and I believe that if we are to form the next government, a change of leadership is essential."

Speaking on Radio 5 Live's Pienaar's Politics, shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the party members were "sovereign" and determined who was leader.

"Jeremy is not going anywhere and will continue on," he said.

Mr McDonnell said he was "disappointed" at the "divisions" within the parliamentary Labour Party and the shadow cabinet but insisted the party would "come together".

"I don't think people had an awful lot of sleep since Friday. I think if we all had a day off and a good night's kip we'll be alright," he said.

Labour MPs Dame Margaret Hodge and Ann Coffey submitted a motion of no confidence against Mr Corbyn in a letter to the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) chairman John Cryer on Friday.

The motion has no formal constitutional force but calls for a discussion at the next meeting of Labour MPs on Monday. The chairman will decide whether it is debated. If accepted, a secret ballot could be held on Tuesday.

But shadow international development secretary Diane Abbott - who describes herself as a "party loyalist" - played down the prospect of a no confidence vote.

She said Mr Corbyn had been elected last September with a massive mandate, and that a relatively small group of MPs had decided to pick a fight with the membership.

"This vote of no confidence does not exist in the Labour Party rule book. It doesn't. It has no meaning.

"If MPs want a new leader what they have to do is find a candidate and unite behind that candidate and have a formal leadership challenge," she told BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House.

Other MPs have spoken out against Mr Corbyn's input in Labour's EU referendum campaign, with MP Stephen Kinnock saying it "was not Labour's finest hour". Meanwhile, former Labour cabinet member Ben Bradshaw said Labour faced being "wiped out" at the next general election under Mr Corbyn.