Britain’s defence minister on Sunday said the government was intensively lobbying opposition Labour lawmakers to support airstrikes in Syria as efforts mount to force a vote next week.
Advertisement
One senior Labour source, who is not in Corbyn’s camp, said Labour MPs seemed to be getting more wary of backing military action over the weekend for fear of “marking their card” and getting singled out as targets for possible deselection by activists.
Labour leaders are set to meet on Monday, where they are set to decide whether it will be a free vote. Corbyn’s statement setting out his views midway through a shadow cabinet discussion process, for instance, making it clear he will never support bombing Syria, was a signal to the constituencies.
And I believe that, more recently, our Parliament got it gravely wrong when deciding – with only 13 MPs voting against – to take military action in Libya.
It is why Jeremy Corbyn’s decision is so important.
We must accept that decent, principled MPs can get it gravely wrong on worldwide issues and military issues – especially in the aftermath of terrorist attacks and especially when confronted with a humanitarian crisis.
It is no coincidence that the row is about military action, the most sensitive issue for Labour since former leader Tony Blair led Britain into supporting the U.S. in Iraq on evidence that was later hotly disputed.
Responding, Mr Corbyn said: “What I’ve done is what I said I would always do – try to democratise the way the party does things”.
Mr Corbyn will first have to convince his shadow cabinet to oppose Cameron’s plan for air strikes.
“To all of you, I solemnly promise that France will do everything to destroy the army of fanatics that committed these crimes”, he said.
The deputy leader has been trying to broker a deal with Corbyn to allow a free vote, as it is possible that key shadow cabinet ministers would have to resign if the leader insists they vote against airstrikes. “We will come to a decision as a party”.
Mr Fallon revealed he is now briefing supportive Labour MPs on the issue, with many poised to side with the government.
The Prime Minister told reporters yesterday during a Commonwealth summit in Malta that all MPs would have to make their minds up “when the choice comes”.
“And backbench MPs are even calling on him to quit for having the temerity to maintain his values and principles, with one even comparing him disgracefully to a “fuhrer”.
The Defence Secretary rejected claims bombing Raqqa and other IS-held cities could lead to large numbers of civilian casualties as the terror group retreats into tunnels or uses local population as “human shields”. “We have a Labour leader who lives in a parallel universe”.
When Britain’s parliament approved its involvement in a war against ISIS, they made it clear that they were only approving airstrikes in Iraq, and explicitly ruled out any strikes in Syria without a new resolution. Marr followed up and asked whether he was looking at the next Prime Minister. He added: “It is unlikely that we will be able to agree a yes or no answer”. I think China would jump at the opportunity to be involved because it would bring them on to the global stage.
Advertisement
Shadow global development secretary Diane Abbott, a close colleague of Mr Corbyn on the Labour left, said the final decision was for the leader but insisted “public opinion is moving towards us in opposing the rush to war”.
