Jeremy Corbyn has signalled that he still plans to try to change Labour’s policy on Trident, months after MPs voted for a new generation of nuclear weapons.

Last year Scottish Labour announced it was opposed to a replacement of the UK’s nuclear deterrent.

But the UK party still supports the Clyde-based system.

In a speech to Labour’s conference new shadow defence secretary Clive Lewis, a key Corbyn ally, said that his party's position was "clear", even as he admitted that he was "sceptical" about the programme.

However, Mr Lewis originally intended to go further and pledge not to unpick party policy.

That reference was reportedly removed from his speech after an intervention by a senior aide to Mr Corbyn.

Mr Lewis later denied a rift with the leadership.

"All speeches have amendments and changes. Where it starts out and where it ends up is always going to be a process of change," he said.

But earlier he had said that he was not part of an inner circle, which includes Mr Corbyn and shadow chancellor John McDonnell, in the shadow cabinet.

Mr Corbyn is a long-time opponent of nuclear weapons.

A number of Labour MPs say that they agree with him in principle but oppose the idea of unilateral disarmament.

Others point to the thousands of jobs that they say exist in the Trident supply chain.

Last year’s Labour conference was dominated by a deep rift over nuclear weapons.

At that stage the unions managed to head off a bid by Mr Corbyn to change Labour policy.

Many in the party thought that the debate had been settled earlier this year when MPs overwhelmingly backed a motion to renew Trident..

During the debate Mr Corbyn was angrily condemned by some of his own MPs for his stance.

Mr Lewis abstained on the vote, dismissing it as "parliamentary pantomime" designed to cause problems for Labour.

In his speech to conference he claimed that Prime Minister Theresa May was using the issue as a "political weapon” against Labour.

He urged delegates: "Let’s not make ourselves an easy target."

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), whose vice-president is Mr Corbyn, hit out at Mr Lewis.

They said that his comments would cause "huge disappointment" and accused the party of abandoning its review of defence policy.

In her speech shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry stressed Labour's commitment to multilateral nuclear disarmament.

Labour MSP Jackie Baillie, whose seat includes Faslane, told delegates that Trident provided 11,300 jobs - 6,800 directly and a further 4,500 in the supply chain.

“That's 11,300 well paid jobs in an area that struggles with higher than average levels of unemployment.”

CND general secretary Kate Hudson said: "Clive Lewis has stated this morning that Labour will now prioritise support for multilateral disarmament initiatives. All well and good but what use is that if Labour fails to oppose Trident replacement?

"How can Labour claim to work for multilateral disarmament if it supports the Government building a new nuclear weapons system at a cost of £205 billion? This means Labour is supporting nuclear rearmament.

"Lewis has clearly signalled that the Labour leadership will not seek to change Labour policy and appears to have abandoned its defence review conducted extensively over the past year. The majority of Labour members oppose Trident replacement, so where is the democracy in that?

"Lewis made it clear that this was a decision designed to avoid political attack by the Prime Minister - but it has merely handed Theresa May support for one of her most controversial projects.

"There is enormous opposition to Trident replacement within the Labour Party and there will be huge disappointment at this U-turn by Clive Lewis."

Brendan O’Hara, the SNP's defence spokesman, said: "The rows about Trident at the Labour conference today once again shows their utter confusion."