Jeremy Corbyn has sacked two senior figures for "disloyalty" and installed a Trident opponent in the key shadow defence brief as he sought to get a grip on his top team.

After more than 30 hours of apparently bitter reshuffle wrangling, the Labour leader stopped short of dismissing shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn.

But he added Europe spokesman Pat McFadden to the casualty list alongside shadow culture secretary Michael Dugher.

Maria Eagle is being shifted from shadow defence secretary to replace Mr Dugher, having been seen as blocking Mr Corbyn's desire to oppose renewal of the UK's nuclear deterrent.

Her berth is taken by Emily Thornberry, who is in line with the leader on Trident.

A senior Labour source said Mr Corbyn had reached an "agreement" with Mr Benn that there could be no repeat of the situation over Syria airstrikes - when they set out opposing views from the despatch box.

The changes, finalised at 12.45am, sparked dismay from some Labour MPs, but were far less dramatic than some had predicted, with Blairites such as shadow justice secretary Lord Falconer retaining their posts.

The source said they had always planned the shake-up to be "relatively modest" rather than a "Big Bang".

Mr Dugher had shown "incompetence" and "serial disloyalty", while Mr McFadden had made thinly-veiled criticisms of the leader on issues such as his response to the Paris terror attacks.

"Some shadow cabinet ministers had got into the habit of regularly attacking the elected leadership, tipping over into abuse," the source said.

They denied the reshuffle marked the end of Mr Corbyn's "new politics", arguing that the length of the process was a reflection of the leader's "desire to engage in a genuine debate" and "consult widely" before making appointments.

The source also stressed that there were now 17 women and 14 men in the full shadow cabinet.

Installing Mrs Thornberry as defence secretary was seen as crucial with a key Commons vote on renewing Trident due soon.

Mr Corbyn could otherwise have again found himself at loggerheads with the shadow minister supposed to be presenting the party's position in Parliament.

The source said Ms Eagle - who had clashed with former London mayor Ken Livingstone over a defence policy review they were jointly overseeing - had been keen to take on the culture brief.

Mr McFadden, whose place is being taken by Pat Glass, said he originally accepted his job because the looming EU referendum was of "crucial importance".

"Tonight Mr Corbyn has told me he does not want me to continue to serve on his frontbench, in particular because of questions I asked about terrorism and national security in the Commons statement following the Paris terrorist attacks," Mr McFadden said.

"It is his prerogative to decide his front bench team and I will continue to support and work for Labour in any way I can."

He added: "I hope Labour retains its strong and clear position to campaign for the United Kingdom to remain in the EU."

Mr Benn posted on Twitter: "Pat McFadden made an outstanding contribution as shadow minister in arguing the case for Britain's place in EU. Privilege to work with him."

Labour backbencher Wes Streeting said he was "gutted" by the news, branding the leadership "a shower".

"Crucial year with EU ref and we've lost an experienced heavyweight. What a shower," he wrote.

Appearing on ITV's Good Morning Britain, John McDonnell dismissed speculation over Mr Benn's position as "a lot of hype" and compared Mr Corbyn to Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

"Hilary was never going to go. Never going to go," the shadow chancellor said.

Labour's free vote over air strikes in Syria meant Mr Benn was at liberty to make the comments without fear of reprisal, said Mr McDonnell, who compared Mr Corbyn's attitude to the Prime Minister's offer of a free vote over Europe.

He rejected the suggestion the Labour leader had "dithered" over the shape of his new shadow cabinet.

Mr McDonnell said: "(Mr Corbyn) is re-dictating the terms of what leadership is all about. It's about bringing people in, building a team, being a good manager and that's what he's developing. He's an Arsene Wenger of politics."

He added that Ms Eagle had taken her "dream job" switching the defence and culture briefs.

Mr McDonnell said the shadow cabinet reshuffle was "never going to be this hyped-up Night of the Long Knives".

He told BBC Breakfast: "Jeremy Corbyn's politics, the sort of new politics he's introduced, is basically he's a very caring and considerate person and he wanted to listen to people's views.

"There's been a lot of hype about this over the last couple of weeks. It was never going to be blood on the carpet. It was going to be a proper discussion.

"You're going to have to get used to this new style of politics."

The shadow chancellor said "there were issues about loyalty" with Mr McFadden but he would have a "major contribution to make to the Labour Party in the future".

"It's just like me and Jeremy in the past," Mr McDonnell added. "We weren't in the Labour cabinet because we disagreed with certain views so we spoke from the backbenches. That's what Pat will do."

Mr McFadden had attacked the Stop the War Coalition that Mr Corbyn used to chair for its comments claiming that Paris was ''reaping the whirlwind'' for Western intervention in the Middle East.

The MP said his differences with the Labour leader on dealing with terrorism were an issue of "substance".

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "He said he felt it was an attack on him and that he had come to the conclusion because of that and one or two other things that I shouldn't continue.

"I think when we say that terrorist attacks are somehow our responsibility, we run the danger of not defending our own societies strongly enough, so this was a difference of substance.

"He clearly feels that me saying that terrorists are entirely responsible for their actions, that no one forces anyone to kill innocent people in Paris, blow up the London Underground, to behead innocent aid workers in Syria, that when I say they are entirely responsible for that he clearly interpreted that as an attack on him."

Mr McFadden said he agreed to stay on the front bench when Mr Corbyn became leader because he believed the upcoming referendum on Britain's relationship with Europe was of "huge importance".

He added: "I never pretended that I agreed with Mr Corbyn on everything else and it's not a surprise that I didn't."