Labour moderates split over whether to serve on Corbyn’s frontbench

Whether or not to serve on Labour’s frontbench is a question of the same order of asking whether the deck chairs on the Titanic should face north or south. But Labour MPs do have to work out what’s best to do while their ship is being captained by Jeremy Corbyn – and we’re starting to see signs of splits within the moderate camp on how best to do this. This evening, centrist MP Johnny Reynolds is reported to be returning to the Labour frontbench as City Minister, which may mean Labour actually holds meetings with people in the City as opposed to ignoring them. But it is also a completely different approach to that being mooted by a number of his like-minded colleagues.

I understand the the chairs of the backbench committees now plan to work as a formal shadow shadow frontbench, holding policy inquiries and publishing reports, asking Urgent Questions in the Commons and planning their own lines of attack at departmental questions.