After Jeremy Corbyn became Labour leader, the assumption was that he would offer his MPs a free vote on air strikes against Isis in Syria. The divisions within the party over the issue and Corbyn’s rebellious past meant that to many it seemed the logical option. Shadow ministers would be permitted to vote in favour of air strikes while Corbyn and others voted against. When asked about the issue at the party conference in September, the Labour leader refused to dismiss the possibility. John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor and his closest ally, went further and backed a free vote.
But on Monday, Corbyn signalled that he did not intend to hold one (“I don’t think a free vote is something that we are offering”), a position that he reaffirmed yesterday: “We would have to consider it as a party, consider it as a group and decide how we would react at that point, I can’t predict at this stage.”
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