Labour MPs revolt as Corbyn condemns US strike
JErEMy Corbyn last night faced a fresh revolt from his own MPs after condemning the US missile attack, saying it ‘risks escalating the war in Syria still further’.
The Labour leader remained silent until nearly nine hours after the airstrikes as he was locked in a behind the scenes row with his defence spokesman Nia Griffith, who backed the action.
Labour MP Michael Dugher, who was sacked from the shadow cabinet last year, sarcastically tweeted that Mr Corbyn’s communications chief Seumas Milne was having to get Moscow’s approval for his position.
Mr Corbyn’s stance was also opposed by his deputy leader Tom Watson, who called the attacks ‘a proportionate response to a clear violation of international law’.
Labour MPs were last night gathering signatures in support of the US airstrikes and calling for tougher action in an act of defiance against their leader.
Party sources claimed defence spokesman Miss Griffith had urged Mr Corbyn to support the missile attack, but that he disregarded her
advice and condemned it. She was yesterday kept off the airwaves.
The fiercely anti-war Mr Corbyn yesterday claimed that peace talks were needed rather than military action against the Assad regime. He said: ‘The US missile attack on a Syrian government air base risks escalating the war in Syria still further.
‘Tuesday’s horrific chemical attack was a war crime which requires urgent independent UN investigation and those responsible must be held to account.
‘But unilateral military action without legal authorisation or independent verification risks intensifying a multi-sided conflict that has already killed hundreds of thousands of people.’ Mr Corbyn called on the UK Government to urge restraint on President Trump, saying it should throw its weight behind peace negotiations and that now is the ‘wrong time’ for airstrikes.
Mr Corbyn was the last leader of a major British political party to respond to the overnight attacks by the U.S., in a possible sign of the awkwardness faced by the longterm peace campaigner.
He used to chair the Stop the War Coalition, which described the attacks as ‘shameful’ and called for protests outside Downing Street against the UK Government’s support for military action.
But John Woodcock, who chairs Labour’s backbench defence committee, said: ‘The US action overnight was proportionate and should have Labour’s full support.’
The party has faced major splits over military intervention in Syria in recent times. In 2013 then leader Ed Miliband helped defeat David Cameron’s plans for airstrikes against President Assad in a Commons vote.
But Mr Miliband has since been criticised for his stance, which critics say allowed the crisis in Syria to deepen. The issue returned to the fore in December 2015, with Mr Corbyn warning against military intervention against Islamic State in the war-torn country. However, 66 Labour MPs backed the Government after being given a free vote on airstrikes. This included Labour’s foreign affairs spokesman Hilary Benn, who gave a rousing speech in the Commons in support of military intervention. Yesterday morning, Mr Benn tweeted: ‘Let’s hope Syria will now think twice before deciding to gas its own people again. Priority must be humanitarian assistance for civilians.’
His successor as Labour foreign affairs spokesman, Emily Thornberry, yesterday backed Mr Corbyn’s position, saying any action needs to be ‘based in law and evidence’. She repeatedly failed to answer when asked if this put her at odds with Mr Watson.
‘Escalating the war further’