CORBYN’S DEFENCE DEBACLE

Threat to scrap nuclear deterrent Might not allow strike to kill IS leader Dangerously weak, warn military chiefs

JEREMY Corbyn yesterday threatened to scrap Britain’s nuclear deterrent as he warned he may not authorise a strike against Islamic State’s leader if elected PM.

And the Labour leader even claimed his ‘letter of last resort’ to Trident submarine commanders would tell them he wanted a nuclear-free world.

Former military chiefs warned Mr Corbyn would betray the British people if he took power on June 8 – while the Tories said he risked ‘dismantling’ Britain’s defences.

The Labour leader, who previously said he would never authorise use of nuclear weapons, also revealed he could end the bombing of IS and withdraw troops from Nato operations.

His comments came as his plan for four new bank holidays and a cap on bosses’ pay were branded ‘economically illiterate’.

Asked on the Andrew Marr show if he would cancel the renewal of Trident, Mr Corbyn said: ‘We will have a strategic defence review immediately which will include all aspects of defence.

‘We would then look at the situation at that time.’

Pressed on whether he would go back on a party agreement to back Trident’s renewal, he said: ‘We are having that discussion in the Labour Party and we will produce our manifesto early in May.

‘I have made clear my views on nuclear weapons. I have made clear there would be no first use of it. I have made clear that any use of it would be a disaster for the whole world.’

Amid confusion, the party was later forced to clarify that Labour did back renewing Trident.

Asked what he would write in the ‘letters of last resort’ from prime ministers with their final instructions to the commanders of the UK’s four Trident submarines, Mr Corbyn told Marr: ‘What I’ll be saying is that I want us to achieve a nuclear-free world.

‘What I want us to do is adhere to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and take part in negotiations surrounding that.’

He then said the message would include: ‘A strict instruction, follow orders when given.’

But Mr Corbyn refused to say whether he would give the order if intelligence services asked him to authorise an attack on IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

He said: ‘What I would tell them is give me the information you have got, tell me how accurate that is and tell me what you think can be achieved.

‘What is the objective here? Is the objective to start more strikes that may kill many innocent people as has happened or is the objective to get a political solution in Syria?

‘My whole point would be does this help to get a political solution in Syria?’

He also suggested he could suspend RAF air strikes on IS in Syria and Iraq.

Ex-military chiefs questioned Mr Corbyn’s suitability for high office and warned his defence policies would ‘embolden Islamic State’ at home and abroad.

Ex-Labour security minister Lord West of Spithead, a former First Sea Lord, said: ‘His answer on what he would put in the last letter to the commander of a Trident nuclear submarine was wishywashy. If you had responsibility for a boat, you don’t want a 12-page missive about multi-lateral disarmament. You would want clear, concise instructions.

‘On Islamic State, if you had intelligence that a leader was plotting to kill British people and you

were able to strike him without killing innocent people, then any prime minister worth his salt would do that.

‘There needs to be more clarity about what our defence policies are, especially on Trident and whether we are committed to spending 2 per cent of national income on defence. I hope they are going to be in the manifesto. If not I will be extremely grumpy.

‘That, coupled with slightly dodgy answers, will lead people in the forces to ask, “Is this chap really fully supportive of us in the military?”’

Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of UK forces, said: ‘British citizens have been dying on the streets of London, elsewhere in Europe and in the Middle East as a result of Islamic State attacks.

‘His refusal to take vital military action against them would cause much greater bloodshed among our people.

‘His weakness would also encourage and embolden Islamic State terrorists at home and abroad to redouble their efforts.

‘Quite literally if Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister enacted the policies he describes, he would have blood on his hands. These comments show why he must never be elected to lead this country.’

Senior Tories also warned that Mr Corbyn posed a national security threat.

Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green told Sky News: ‘This man could be prime minister in seven weeks’ time, I cannot think of a better reason for sticking with the strong leadership of Theresa May than the fact that Jeremy Corbyn would dismantle this country’s defences.’

Tory Party chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin told the BBC’s Sunday Politics that Theresa May had shown she was not afraid to take ‘very difficult decisions’.

Labour MPs publicly questioned Mr Corbyn’s suitability for Downing Street too.

Asked if the party leader would make a good prime minister, Ilford North MP Wes Streeting told Sky News: ‘I’ve said before that I don’t think he would. I’m not going to pretend to have had a Damascene conversion.’

THIS paper has great sympathy with those who’ve become fed up after the rash of elections and referendums since 2010.

But to any tempted to stay at home on June 8, yesterday brought a terrifying reminder of the fate that could befall Britain if we surrender to apathy.

True, early polls suggest Theresa May has a commanding lead nationally and that Ruth Davidson’s Scottish Tories could take as many as a dozen seats from the SNP.

That would torpedo Nationalist claims to have a mandate for Indyref 2. And it means it is highly unlikely that Jeremy Corbyn and the rag-bag ‘coalition of chaos’, fronted by the SNP, could seize power.

But the paradox is that the Tories’ seeming invincibility may prove a weakness, with many thinking that the result is a foregone conclusion.

The risks of any such way of thinking simply cannot be exaggerated – as Mr Corbyn brought home so vividly when he outlined his alternative plan for Britain.

For his is the vision of a student revolutionary, so dangerous that it makes even the ramblings of Michael Foot, Neil Kinnock or Ed Miliband seem almost statesmanlike by comparison.

Take defence policy. As a lifelong campaigner for unilateral nuclear disarmament, it was perhaps predictable that he would set himself at odds with his party by casting renewed doubt over the future of the Clyde-based Trident nuclear deterrent.

But the threat to our security from this anti-American, anti-Israeli sympathiser with Islamist extremists goes deeper still.

Early in his leadership, Mr Corbyn made clear he was unhappy with a police ‘shootto-kill’ policy in terrorist incidents. Now he has cast similar doubt over his willingness to strike against IS leaders.

Indeed, as Tory campaign manager Sir Patrick McLoughlin said yesterday, it is ‘blindingly obvious’ that the public will be safer under Theresa May, with her impressive record as Home Secretary in the fight against terrorism.

Or take what passes as Mr Corbyn’s economic policy. Straight from a Marxist textbook, it is hard to imagine a more effective recipe for national bankruptcy.

Apart from imposing swingeing extra taxes on the (undefined) ‘rich’, he would deny government contracts to any firm paying its executives more than around £350,000 – a figure plucked from the air.

Meanwhile, he would demand greater recognition for overmighty unions, while reversing planned cuts in corporation tax – thereby wiping out hopes of competitive advantage after Brexit.

In a surreal touch, he would also introduce four extra bank holidays – effectively closing Britain for the spring, costing business billions and disrupting schools.

Certainly, the Tories should not sit back and rely on Mr Corbyn to win the election for them and nor should Scots think seats can be wrested from the SNP without serious effort.

Voters should have no doubt about the vital importance of the choice facing them on June 8. God forbid that we should sleep-walk into Corbyn’s economics of the kindergarten and Nicola Sturgeon’s Unionwrecking chaos.