May accuses Corbyn of ‘misplaced idealism’ as MPs prepare for Trident vote – Politics live

Rolling coverage of all the day’s political developments as they happen, including Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn opening the Commons debate on Trident renewal and Angela Eagle and Owen Smith at the PLP hustings

9.10am BST

Good morning. Theresa May is going to make her first appearance in the Commons today as prime minister and she will be opening the debate on renewing Trident. There is no reason why the prime minister has to open this debate – it would have been perfectly acceptable to leave it up to the defence secretary – and arguably there is no reason why the debate is needed anyway, because the Commons has already voted in principle to renew the Trident nuclear deterrent. But David Cameron scheduled a vote in large part because he wanted to highlight Labour divisions on this subject and May is implementing this strategy with relish. In comments from her speech released overnight, she accuses Jeremy Corbyn of “misplaced idealism”. She says:

We cannot compromise on our national security. We cannot outsource the grave responsibility we shoulder for keeping our people safe. And we cannot abandon our ultimate safeguard out of misplaced idealism. That would be a reckless gamble: a gamble that would enfeeble our allies and embolden our enemies. A gamble with the safety and security of families in Britain that we must never be prepared to take.

Related: Labour facing prospect of three-way split over Trident vote

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