Jeremy Corbyn: chilly reception at PLP

The new Labour leader was greeted with silence when he arrived to address Labour MPs: 93 per cent of them didn’t vote for him and the silence conveyed the warmth.

In questions the MPs asked if Jeremy Corbyn would wear a normal poppy or a white poppy. He explained at some length why he thought white poppies were an important symbol for some people.

At the end of this lengthy answer he said, with regard to the Cenotaph ceremony on Armistice Day, that he’d been to commemorations in the past but “I’m not sure what’ll happen this year.”

Grumbling anger percolated round the room and though one MP said the meeting generally went as well as it could, that was a point of real tension.

Tomorrow the Labour leader will attend the Battle of Britain memorial but there is word he originally wanted to send Tom Watson to represent the party and had to be persuaded to change his plans.

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