LABOUR MPs will be given a free vote in Monday’s once-in-a-generation decision over Trident renewal, a party source said yesterday.

It has been claimed that the Tories called the snap vote on the £205 billion weapons in a cynical bid to heal the divisions in their own party and stoke tension within Labour.

Labour is conducting a defence policy review led by anti-nuclear MP Emily Thornberry, but without a settled policy a Labour spokesman said: “The likelihood is that there will be a free vote.”