Labour fails to back any action in Syria
Corbyn wants inquiry into atrocity, despite French president insisting he has proof Assad is to blame
LABOUR has failed to state any circumstances in which it would intervene militarily in Syria as Jeremy Corbyn refused to be drawn on whether he believed Bashar al-assad was behind last week’s chemical attack.
Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, was asked four times on BBC’S Radio 4’s Today programme whether Labour would contemplate action but said only that the party would push to “bring people to the table”. Pressed again if there was any scenario in which Labour would support the use of force, Ms Abbott responded: “the Second World War”.
It came as Mr Corbyn also prevaricated when asked whether he believed the Syrian regime was behind the attack in Douma, Eastern Ghouta, thought to have killed 75 people and injured hundreds. Despite Emmanuel Macron, the French president, claiming he has “proof” that regime forces carried out the atrocity, Mr Corbyn insisted that he wanted a United Nations investigation to be launched before drawing any conclusions.
Echoing Ms Abbott’s comments, the Labour leader declined to state any situation in which he would intervene and said that to launch retaliatory air strikes would be to risk death, “further chaos” and for the war to “escalate”.
“Obviously those that have actually done it should be held responsible for it, obviously there has to be an inquiry to ascertain exactly who did it,” Mr Corbyn told Sky News.
“Look, it’s up to us to obviously condemn, obviously do everything we can to bring about a ceasefire and a political solution, and it’s also up to the UN as the major actor in the international community to define who actually did it. If he [President Macron] has proof the regime did it then the regime must be held responsible. If there’s proof that anybody else did it they must be held responsible.”
Mr Corbyn also failed to condemn Russian claims that a Uk-backed rescue organisation, the White Helmets, may be behind the attack.
When asked what he made of the claims, the Labour leader said that if the Kremlin “have evidence they need to bring it forward”. Last night, Johnny Mercer, the Tory MP and former soldier, said Mr Corbyn’s comments “underline” why any action against President Assad should be done without a Parliamentary vote. “We’re living in post-truth political season, and [his comments] underline the reason why Parliament should not be allowed to constrain the Prime Minister’s decision making process,” he told The Telegraph.
Despite Russia repeatedly vetoing attempts by the UN Security Council to establish an independent investigation, Mr Corbyn argued that continuing to pursue a diplomatic solution was “never pointless”. And, if the Syrian government was found to be culpable, Mr Corbyn said he would continue to “pressure” President Assad to agree to a ceasefire and the destruction of any chemical weapons stockpiles.