Corbyn labelled a collaborator after he attacks our role in Nato
ARMED Forces minister Mike Penning branded Jeremy Corbyn a Russian ‘collaborator’ last night after he criticised Britain’s role in Nato.
Mr Penning, a former soldier, hit out at the Labour leader after aides said he opposed the deployment of hundreds of British troops to Estonia.
A senior spokesman for Mr Corbyn infuriated Labour MPs on Wednesday by briefing reporters that he believes the deployment is ‘escalating tensions’ with Russia.
The spokesman also suggested that Labour is not committed to defending countries such as Estonia if they are attacked by Russia – despite the principle of common defence being the cornerstone of Nato.
Last night Mr Corbyn held clear-the-air talks with his own shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith, who was said to be ‘livid’ about the anti-Nato comments – which emerged while she was recording a message of support for Nato.
Mr Penning said Mr Corbyn was unfit to be put in charge of Britain’s defences. ‘It is unprecedented for a Leader of the Opposition to attack the defensive deployment of British troops on Nato territory,’ he said.
‘These comments suggest he would rather collaborate with Russian aggression than support Britain’s Nato allies.
‘As with Trident, everything Labour says and does shows that they cannot be trusted with Britain’s national security.’
Mr Corbyn’s questioning of Labour’s support for Nato caused anger in Labour’s ranks.
Former frontbencher Michael Dugher said the Labour leader’s team appeared to be ‘continu- ing to fight the Cold War – for the wrong side’. Former Nato secretary-general Lord Robertson warned last night that Britain was ‘sleepwalking to a potential calamity’ over its failure to prepare for the threat posed by Russia and Islamic terrorism.
‘We’re grossly under-resourced to meet the challenges of the coming years,’ he said.
The row came as a former Labour general secretary reopened the row over Mr Corbyn’s decision to hand Shami Chakrabarti a peerage after she conducted a ‘woefully inadequate’ inquiry into Labour’s antisemitism crisis.
Lord Triesman told Parliament’s House magazine the party was experiencing ‘really quite serious’ examples of antisemitism. Labour has denied that Lady Chakrabarti was offered the peerage in return for soft-pedalling on the party’s problems with anti-semitism.