Jeremy Corbyn has been 'reaching out' to his Labour MP critics, new party chief whip says

Nick Brown said Labour MPs could be at 'fault' in any rift

Jeremy Corbyn at a shadow cabinet meeting (PA)

Jeremy Corbyn has been increasingly “reaching out” and “inclusive” towards his critics inside the Parliamentary Labour Party, its new chief whip has said.

Nick Brown, who previously served as chief whip under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, suggested that some Labour MPs might not be doing as much as they could to make peace with their party’s leadership.

Mr Corbyn has struggled to fill his whole front bench after the most recent spate of Labour MP resignations, with some non-Cabinet positions going empty despite the return of some MPs who had previously quit.

“Jeremy is reaching out to people who don’t agree with him and trying to be inclusive,” he told Newcastle’s Chronicle newspaper.

“And has got some response - but in my view not enough. That’s no fault of his. If there is error, it’s with others.”

Mr Brown was appointed to be Mr Corbyn’s chief whip in the most recent reshuffle after Labour conference. He replaced Rosie Winterton, who had previously replaced Mr Brown at the start of Ed Miliband’s leadership.

The Labour leadership has moved to placate some its critics in recent months – downplaying Mr Corbyn’s personal ambition of scrapping Trident and reappointing some of his public critics to his front bench.

The approach comes after an attempt to oust him following the EU referendum, after he lost a no confidence vote among Labour MPs.

Mr Corbyn however won the resulting full leadership election with an increased level of support among the party, cementing his leadership.