UK's Parliament Debates - David Cameron - Jeremy Corbyn - Syria Air Strikes -Islamic State - London

• published: 02 Dec 2015
• views: 18622

The Labour leader was jeered by Conservative MPs as he tried to make the case against military action UK Parliament to Vote on Expanded Attacks on Islamic State Jeremy Corbyn was repeatedly heckled and shouted down by Tory MPs as he tried to make the case against air strikes . The Labour leader frequently had to pause his speech in the face of jeering from the opposition benches. At one point he was trying to read out a letter from a Syrian refugee who lives in his London constituency when he was interrupted by Tory laughter. Mr Corbyn said he could not vote for military action when it would “almost inevitably lead to the deaths of innocent” civilians. “For all members to take a decision that will put British servicemen and women in harms way and almost inevitably lead to the deaths of innocents is a heavy responsibility. “It must be treated with the utmost seriousness and respect given to those who make a different judgement about the right course of action to take,” he said. The long-standing pacifist said the spectre of Britain’s previous interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya “loomed” over the debate. “To oppose another reckless and half-baked intervention isn’t pacifism. It’s hard-headed common sense. “To resist ISIL’s determination to draw the western powers back into the heart of the Middle East isn’t to turn our backs on allies. It’s to refuse to play into the hands of ISIL,” he said. The “overriding goal” should a negotiated peace settlement, not adding to the Coalition’s bombing campaign, Mr Corbyn told MPs. And he claimed that the public was moving against air strikes. In a dig at his Labour colleagues in favour of air strikes, he reminded them he had been elected as a leader on the back of his anti-war stance. Mr Corbyn tore into David Cameron ’s claim that there 70,000 troops in the Syrian Free Army ready to take the fight to ISIL on the ground. “The Prime Minister has failed to convince almost anyone that even if British participation in the air campaign would tip the balance, that there are credible ground forces able to take back territory now held by ISIL. “In fact, it’s quite clear there are no such forces,” he said. The Labour leader then warned that air strikes would result in “mission creep” with Western boots on the ground. “That’s what the Prime Minister’s bombing campaign could well lead to. “It’s why the logic of an extended air campaign is mission creep and western boots on the ground – whatever the Prime Minister may say now about keeping British combat troops out of the fight,” he said. The Labour leader provoked howls of protest from MPs when he refused to say if wanted Britain to withdraw from air strikes against ISIS in Iraq Asked by pro-war Labour MP John Woodcock if he was favour of removing air protection for Kurdish forces in Iraq, Mr Corbyn replied: “It is not part of the motion today so we move on with this debate.”