Corbyn sent a letter to all Labour parliamentarians hours after Prime Minister David Cameron proposed a plan for increased military action against Syria in Parliament Thursday, saying he was not convinced by the prime minister’s case for airstrikes.
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Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, a veteran anti-war campaigner, says he is also reluctant to support the strikes without a political plan for Syria, fearful more bombing would complicate the more than four-and-a-half year civil war.
Campaign group Stop the War on Facebook, which has 139 000 likes for the page, have said that they will be holding a protest outside the PM’s office in Westminster from 12pm to 2pm.
Tensions between Mr Corbyn and Mr Benn have bubbled over in recent days as they reacted differently to both the UN’s new resolution on Syria in the wake of the Paris attacks and to a confidential briefing from intelligence officials on the threat to the UK.
Britain is already involved in air strikes against the Islamic State in Iraq, but has so far not taken part in bombings of the group’s positions in Syria.
But a Labour List survey of 2,453 supporters found that 63 per cent support the party leader’s opposition to air strikes in Syria.
The comments, in a press conference at the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit in Malta, come with senior ministers contacting Labour MPs to try to convince them to back an extension of RAF strikes against Islamic State (IS). Foreign secretary Philip Hammond and defence secretary Michael Fallon spent much of Saturday trying to win round Labour waverers. The Democratic Unionists are also believed to support air strikes, although the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesman Alex Salmond said his party was yet to be convinced.
Cameron added: “I’m not responsible for what is happening in the Labour party”.
“These are our closest allies and they want our help”, he said.
A showdown between Corbyn and dissenting Labour MPs is expected at a meeting on Monday where the party is expected to decide whether its lawmakers can vote freely on the issue or must adhere to a party line. At this point, I do not believe bombing Syria will make it safe anymore than bombing Iraq made Iraq safe, “Abbott said in a short speech at the demonstration”.
The Prime Minister said there was a “compelling” case for airstrikes and insisted MPs would allow the country to do the “right thing” if they supported them.
Outlining his case last week for extending United Kingdom military action from Iraq into Syria, Mr Cameron stressed he would only hold a Commons vote on the issue if he was certain of securing a majority.
“Of course there are concerns and hard questions – it is a complex situation – but, as I have said, just because a strategy is complicated and takes a long time does not mean it is not the right strategy and can not work”. “We’ve destabilised all these countries”.
Asked if there could be co-operation on the wording of the motion, a spokesman said: “We are very happy to continue to have discussions and to talk to MPs from all sides of the House to discuss with them any issues they may have”.
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However, senior shadow cabinet members have been seeking to defuse an internal party row over the issue, which threatens to split Labour.
