Jeremy Corbyn has backed calls for the Scottish Labour party to vote against the renewal of Trident this weekend despite warnings it could widen an already deep rift within the party.

The Labour leader told the Guardian that a vote against the nuclear deterrent at the party’s Scottish conference on Sunday would greatly strengthen his attempts to change Labour policy at Westminster after the issue failed to get debated at the party’s UK conference earlier this month.

Speaking before his first address to Scottish Labour Corbyn said: “I think it might be an encouragement to many people in the rest of the UK to listen very carefully to what’s being said at the Scottish conference. There are similar debates going on all across the party in Britain.

“I was only elected myself some 60 days ago and I have done my best to open up the possibility of that kind of open debate within the party.”

“If you want socialist change, if you want a leftwing alternative, you have to vote for it,” Corbyn is expected to say, describing Labour as “a socialist party in both our words and our deeds”.

He will add: “If you’re satisfied with rising inequality, rising child poverty and widening health inequalities, then Labour is not for you. If you’re satisfied that nearly a million people in Scotland are in fuel poverty or that half of all housing in Scotland falls short of official quality standards, then Labour isn’t for you.

Source: MENA