He also insisted politicians must listen to the “voice” of the party membership, which overwhelmingly elected him.
Advertisement
Andrew Marr asked Corbyn whether his heart was set against bombing Syria, and Corbyn replied “there is nothing wrong with my heart except for wanting a peaceful world”. “If you’re a member of the shadow cabinet and you defy a three-line whip, there’s an expectation that your resignation will be on the desk in the morning”, she said.
Finally, bombing Syria would made Britain ever more vulnerable to a terrorist attack.
The draft motion covered not only military action against IS, but also work on counter-extremism, the diplomatic and political process and the ongoing humanitarian effort, said the spokesman.
They included: shadow education secretary Lucy Powell, shadow defence secretary Maria Eagle, deputy leader Tom Watson, shadow Northern Ireland secretary Vernon Coaker, shadow culture secretary Michael Dugher and shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn.
Many shadow cabinet members support air strikes and are urging their leader to allow Labour MPs a free vote.
“Obviously there are strong views on both directions”. We have had long discussions about this at the weekend.
The Prime Minister said all MPs would have to make their minds up “when the choice comes”. The poll has been criticised as an attempt to use his grassroots powerbase to “bounce” the shadow cabinet into submitting.
The veteran left-winger, who has been a serial rebel throughout his House of Commons career, said: “I understand dissent, I understand disagreement from leadership”.
Others are said to want Corbyn himself to quit over the issue.
“The problem that I think Jeremy has got…is that he has never abided by the discipline of the leader or of the shadow cabinet”.
But Corbyn dismissed this idea, saying he is “not going anywhere and… enjoying every minute” of his leadership.
The survey, of more than 1,600 voters between 23 and 24 November, found 59% of people supported air strikes on IS in Syria, while only 20% were against such action.
Media reported the vote could be held on Wednesday, but Cameron says he will not ask parliament until he can count on its approval, to avoid a repeat of the damaging defeat in 2013 over strikes against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
She told the BBC: “Frankly, I think the threat of mass resignations has been exaggerated but we will have to see”.
Pressed on whether he personally was ready to resign, Lord Falconer said: “I don’t want to comment on that”.
But a senior source confirmed that a free vote would be offered, as the shadow cabinet gathered in Westminster to discuss an issue which has exposed deep rifts at the heart of the party.
Unite general-secretary Len McCluskey said: “The thought that some Labour MPs might be prepared to play intra-party politics over an issue such as this will sicken all decent people”.
Advertisement
By allowing the so-called “free vote” – breaking with a tradition for party leaders to instruct MPs on how to vote on major decisions, Corbyn has moved to quell a rebellion in Labour, which had threatened to engulf his two-month leadership.
