[Peace-discuss] Corbyn's Anti-Airstrike Stance Prompts Threats of Resignation from Party Lawmakers

[David Johnson]

UK: Corbyn's Anti-Airstrike Stance Prompts Threats of Resignation from Party
Lawmakers

 

Senior members of the Labour Party are threatening to resign as they stand
against their party's leader who opposes U.K. airstrikes in Syria.

 

In what is the latest attack since Jeremy Corbyn was overwhelmingly voted by
party members to lead Britain's Labour Party in September, some Labour
parliamentarians are attacking his stance against proposed airstrikes in
Syria, going as far as threatening to resign.

 

"There will be resignations among senior members of the shadow cabinet over
this," an unnamed senior shadow cabinet member told the BBC.

 

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.

 

"I do not believe the prime minister's current proposal for airstrikes in
Syria will protect our security and therefore cannot support it," Corbyn
wrote.

 

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Several shadow ministers from the Labour Party have said that they would
resign their positions if Corbyn demanded they vote uniformly instead of
having a free vote over allowing United Kingdom airstrikes in Syria when the
issue is presented in parliament.

 

According to media reports, half of the shadow cabinet supports the
airstrikes in Syria and agree with Cameron's arguments that the U.K.'s
security is under threat by the Islamic State group.

 

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It appears some senior members of the Labour Party were offended by the
letter, as they argue the letter should not have been sent before an
agreement was reached among Labour's "shadow cabinet" - those chosen by the
party leader to hold their counterparts in the ruling party to account.

 

But not all member of the shadow government saw it that way. Shadow
International Development Secretary Diane Abbott insisted that Corbyn's
views were those of the party's grassroots, saying his mandate to lead was
too large for his cabinet to vote against him. "You cannot have a shadow
cabinet voting down the leader of the Labour Party who has just been elected
with the biggest mandate in history," she said.

 

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Shadow Employment Secretary Emily Thornberry agreed with Corbyn that the
prime minister failed to make the case for airstrikes in Syria, adding there
was a "brutally honest debate going on" within the Labour Party. However,
she argued that members cannot be forced - or "whipped" - to vote in a
certain way on such an important issue as war.

 

"When it comes to an issue of war it is something that people think very
profoundly about. We do usually act collectively, but I think on issues like
this there are times when people cannot stick to a whip which is imposed,"
she said.

 

In 2013, U.K. lawmakers voted against military action against Syrian
President Bashar Assad, but they did later approve British airstrikes
against the Islamic State group in Iraq. 

 

This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: 
 
<http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/UK-Corbyn-Under-Fire-for-Stance-Again
st-Syria-Airstrikes-20151127-0008.html>
"http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/UK-Corbyn-Under-Fire-for-Stance-Again
st-Syria-Airstrikes-20151127-0008.html". If you intend to use it, please
cite the source and provide a link to the original article.
www.teleSURtv.net/english

 

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