Syria: 75% Of Labour Members Against Airstrikes

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said most Labour members supported their leader (watch video below), while was echoed by Corbyn ally Diane Abbott.

It’s clear that he would like to see air strikes before the end of the year, but will only call a Commons vote if he is confident of victory.

Divisions within the party on Syria have helped ferment discontent among some opposition MPs over Mr Corbyn’s leadership with a substantial number likely to rebel if he orders a whipped vote against airstrikes.

It would be Mr Corbyn’s decision to go, he said, not for MPs to throw him out. “Any attempt to force Labour’s leader out through a Westminster Palace-coup will be resisted all the way by Unite and, I believe, most party members and affiliated unions”.

He said: “This is not about the internal politics of the Labour Party, this is about the internal security of our country”.

It will note that the resolution backs states to take “all necessary measures” to prevent terrorist acts by IS and to “eradicate the safe haven they have established over significant parts of Iraq and Syria”.

The prime minister’s position is also under pressure with defence secretary Michael Fallon yesterday(SUN) acknowledging the Government does “not yet” have a guaranteed majority backing military action.

Corbyn’s decision, reached after a meeting Monday with senior Labour Party figures, means the opposition leader will not demand that all his party’s legislators follow his lead and oppose the strikes.

But in a defiant interview at the weekend he stressed he alone would take the final decision, and Mr Corbyn said MPs must listen to the party membership, who overwhelmingly elected him in September.

Prime Minister David Cameron says Parliament will hold a debate Wednesday on whether Britain should launch airstrikes against militants in Syria.

“They’re anxious that they will look like they’re following the Blairite approach to war, which is tainted”, she added.

Most Labour lawmakers did not support Corbyn’s leadership bid but he was backed by an overwhelming majority of grassroots party members.

“You can’t just write these people off as psychopaths and sociopaths”, the Bridge Of Spies star said.

“However, I think the party and increasingly the public would be disappointed if we didn’t oppose these air strikes to the limits of our ability”.

Jeremy Corbyn must decide whether to whip his party into voting with him against intervention, or allowing a free vote on the issue.

Downing Street confirmed that MPs from all sides of the House were being offered briefings on the Government’s case for United Kingdom involvement in air strikes against IS in Syria, at which they were able to ask questions about the strategy.

He said any motion put to a vote would be based around four key areas: counter-terrorism, the diplomatic and political process, military action against IS and ongoing humanitarian support.

MPs such as Aberavon’s Stephen Kinnock have made the case for a free vote, arguing that going to war is a matter of conscience.

The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP also warned against letting Labour MPs make up their own minds as it risks bowing to Mr Cameron’s call for intervention.