Shadow Chancellor defends budget vote U-turn amid backlash from Labour MPs

The Shadow Chancellor has defended his u-turn on fiscal policy, saying he "changed his mind" after visiting the steelworkers in Redcar who have lost their jobs.

John McDonnell was responding to accusations from some Labour MPs that the party's leadership was a "total shambles" after the u-turn.

ITV News Deputy Political Editor, Chris Ship reports:

Mr McDonnell reversed his decision to vote against plans for the Government to run a budget surplus after having previously said he would back the proposals. He wrote to Labour MPs informing them of the change ahead of Wednesday's debate in the Commons.

He also explained his decision to Labour MPs and peers in a Westminster meeting which was described as a "f****** shambles" by former Cabinet minister, Ben Bradshaw.

The shadow chancellor said the party will vote against the charter and set out its own plan for "tackling the deficit not through punishing the most vulnerable and decimating our public services, but by ending the unfair tax cuts to the wealthy, tackling tax evasion and investing for growth".

Speaking the day after the meeting, Mr McDonnell said: "I went to Redcar and met the steelworkers. I had families in tears over what was happening to them as a result of the Government failing to intervene.

"As the consequences of Government failure to invest in infrastructure and skills, the cuts that are going to start coming now, I realised that people are going to suffer badly.

"I don't want the Labour Party associated with this policy."

However, the change of position was not well received by some in the Parliamentary Labour Party.

His predecessor as shadow chancellor, Chris Leslie, said Labour needed a "clear and consistent" policy and said Mr McDonnell should instead table a rival motion and abstain on Mr Osborne's plan, refusing to play his "tactical game".

Mr Leslie warned: "To go from one extreme to the other is wrong in economic terms but also it sends the wrong message to the general public as well.

Mr Leslie told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the confrontation between the Chancellor and his opposite number would be critical.

"This is John's first test against George Osborne. I think it's very important therefore that Labour's frontbench is extremely clear about where we stand. People need to know what the Labour Party's position is."

A senior party spokesman rejected suggestions Mr Bradshaw represented the wider tone of the meeting.

"I don't think it was angry. I really wouldn't say that. There was some discussion about the business this week. I thought generally the meeting was quite positive.

"The only disagreement really was that there needed to be more discussion."

However, other Labour MPs were quick to voice their anger including Mike Gapes who wrote on Twitter: "There is now no collective shadow cabinet responsibility in our party, no clarity on economic policy and no credible leadership."

Challenged by another user of the social media site to show loyalty to Mr Corbyn, the Ilford South MP responded: "I will show loyalty in the same way as he was loyal to Kinnock, Smith, Blair, Brown, Beckett, Miliband and Harman. Ok?"

In an effort to calm the waters, Shadow International Development Secretary Diane Abbott dismissed the row as a "process story" and claimed Mr Osborne's legislation was "gimmicky" and designed to put Labour "in a corner".

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme Mr McDonnell will fully explain his position in the Commons debate on Wednesday.

"We are in the right position now, it is a position that most of the PLP is comfortable with and, I think, all party members," she insisted.

"John McDonnell takes the deficit very seriously and the party as a whole takes the deficit very seriously," she added, predicting that in 12 months' time the focus would be on Mr Osborne, rather than Labour's difficulties.

"The economy is not going to be in as good a place as it is now in a year's time. People will be focusing on his mismanagement of the economy, not on a ... process story," she said.

Her comments were dismissed by a long-standing opponent of Labour's hard left, Alastair Campbell, who tweeted during the interview: "This is embarrassing bordering on unlistenable".