Corbyn sacks Hilary Benn

Jeremy Corbyn has sacked Hilary Benn from his Shadow Cabinet amid reports he was leading a coup against him.
The Shadow Foreign Secretary was said to have asked his colleagues to resign en masse if Mr Corbyn stayed on as leader of the party following his 'lacklustre' performance for the Remain campaign in the EU referendum.
But Mr Corbyn has struck the first blow after stating yesterday he would face up to any challenge and would run again in a leadership contest.
A Labour Party spokesman confirmed Mr Benn had been removed from his role in the early hours of this morning after he took a call from his leader at 1am


In a midnight telephone call, Mr Corbyn told the Leeds Central MP he was kicking him out of the top team.
The Labour spokesman said: ‘Jeremy has sacked him on the grounds that he has lost confidence in him.’ The 'plot' emerged after defiant Mr Corbyn vowed yesterday to fight off any challenges to his leadership, telling a crowd of supporters that he would run again if his opponents forced a contest.

It is not the first time the two have clashed, with Mr Benn backing Conservative-led plans for airstrikes against ISIS in Syria against Mr Corbyn's position.
Mr Benn, who represents Leeds Central, served in the Cabinet under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

He is a fourth-generation MP and his father Tony served in Parliament for 47 years, and was a Cabinet minister himself in the governments of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan.
Initial reaction was divided, with some MPs supporting Mr Benn and claiming there were 'no good reasons' to stay in the Shadow Cabinet.
Wes Streeting, MP for Ilford North, said on Twitter: 'Lots of good people chose to serve in Shadow Cabinet to keep the show on the road. There are no longer good reasons for good people to stay.'

Exeter Labour MP Ben Bradshaw added: 'The Labour Shadow Cabinet must now act to save the Party and for the sake of the country. Otherwise we will never be forgiven.'
Others on social media said 'good riddance' and praised Mr Corbyn for 'showing some teeth'.
Amid growing anger against Mr Corbyn's allegedly 'lacklustre' performance for Remain in the EU referendum, there were also claims last night that up to 200 Labour MPs may back the no confidence motion – which could be decided in a secret ballot to be held on Tuesday.

Last night, senior Labour MP Margaret Hodge, who proposed the no-confidence vote, said that although it would not be binding on Mr Corbyn, he should quit if it passed.
'If the motion is carried, I hope he does the decent thing and resigns.'
The possibility of a coup came as a Mail on Sunday poll found that 55 per cent of voters think that Mr Corbyn should step down as Labour leader, compared with 26 per cent who think he should not.
Among Labour voters, 53 per cent think he should go, while 37 per cent want him to stay.

Among potential rivals, London mayor Sadiq Khan is rated most highly in the poll, with 30 per cent of Labour voters describing him as 'impressive'.
Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham is next with 26 per cent and ex-front bencher Chuka Umunna ties with Yvette Cooper on 15 per cent in third place.
Rebels yesterday said they hoped to persuade the Labour leader voluntarily to step down and allow a ‘caretaker’ to take the reins – with some wanting current deputy leader Tom Watson to take over.