Labour Trident row: Tom Watson urges David Cameron to hold vote on nuclear deterrent

Labour's internal row over the future of the UK's nuclear deterrent system has reignited after it emerged that Jeremy Corbyn would address a large rally of Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) supporters on 27 February.

The Labour leader has been a prominent anti-Trident activist and recently appointed fellow unilateralist Emily Thornberry to the role of shadow defence secretary. But other top Labour figures, such as the shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn and former shadow transport secretary Michael Dugher, have argued in favour of the nuclear missile system.

The GMB Union, a Labour affiliate, has also warned about the detrimental impact scrapping the system would have on thousands of defence industry jobs.

However, Corbyn threatens to re-open old wounds over the issue when he attends the CND national demo in central London. The Labour leader's office confirmed the left-winger's attendance to IBTimes UK.

But only hours after Politics Home broke the news of Corbyn's speech, Labour deputy leader Tom Watson intervened in the debate during a speech to the EEF national manufacturing conference.

"I'm in favour of a continuous at sea nuclear deterrent. My party's policy favours a continuous at sea nuclear deterrent," he told the Westminster audience. "Our trade unions, who represent thousands of workers in the 450 companies who form the supply chain that make it, are in favour of Trident."

He added: "You may have read that this view is not shared by all our MPs. But I have made it clear to David Cameron that if he honours his promise of a vote on Trident I will support it.

"There are enough Labour MPs to guarantee that the vote is won. I know the prime minister is currently pre-occupied with the European Referendum, but I happen to believe that the sooner this vote is tabled, the greater certainty we can give to industry, our allies and our enemies, that British industry will deliver the Trident project in good time."

A pro-Trident vote in the House of Commons would put pressure on Thornberry as she conducts the party's defence review. Lord Hutton and Lord Robertson, former Labour defence secretaries, shared their concerns in The Guardian over the exercise.

"We are increasingly concerned that the Labour Party's defence review is sliding into chaos and incoherence," the grandees warned. "We accept that there is a legitimate disagreement as to whether the United Kingdom requires an independent nuclear deterrent.

"Given the increased prominence of nuclear weapons in the security policies of Russia, China and North Korea, the significant nuclear weapons building programmes occurring in those countries, and the strident brandishment of those weapons as official policies there, it is self-evident that a British nuclear deterrent will be essential to our security for decades to come."

The Scottish National Party (SNP) are also opposed to the renewal of Trident and a recent analysis of Labour members, from Election Date, revealed 68% were opposed to the nuclear missile system, while only 18% were in favour of renewing the system.