Labour’s shadow defence secretary has dismissed the number of Labour MPs who had diverged from its stance on Ukraine as “marginal”, but argued that they had fallen “for some of Putin’s propaganda”.

Last week, Labour MPs Diane Abbott,  Richard Burgon, Zarah Sultana, John McDonnell, Ian Lavery, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Apsana Begum, Tahir Ali, Mick Whitley, Ian Mearns, and Beth Winter signed a statement by the Stop the War Coalition which criticised British arms exports to Ukraine.

When quizzed by Sky News over Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to demand his MPs  withdraw their signatures John Healey explained: “Sir Keir Starmer leads the party, he’s supported by people like me in the shadow cabinet.

“These Labour MPs who were tempted to support a different point of view and fall for some of Putin’s propaganda about Nato aggression have simply been marginal and they’ve withdrawn their support for that sort of statement.

“The really important thing is that Her Majesty’s Opposition stands with the UK Government,” he went on.