Corbyn: I'm No Pacifist But War On Terror Has Failed

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has denied being a pacifist, saying military action under international law is, in some circumstances, necessary.

Speaking at think tank Chatham House, he outlined his policy on security and foreign affairs, as well as seeking to clarify his party's stance on nuclear weapons.

Mr Corbyn said there should be no more "hand holding with Donald Trump", referencing Theresa May's meeting with the US President earlier this year. 

Forces News' James Hirst spoke to him after the speech - just click above to watch.

During the address, Mr Corbyn said the "war on terror" has been a failure, as he set out his approach to foreign and defence policy.

The Labour leader said "fresh thinking" was needed and cautioned against a "bomb first, talk later" approach to foreign policy. He said:

"Today the world is more unstable than even at the height of the Cold War. The approach to international security we have been using since the 1990s simply has not worked."

"Regime-change wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria - and Western interventions in Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen - haven't always succeeded in their own terms.

"Sometimes they have made the world a more dangerous place."

He said it was the fourth general election in a row during which the UK had been at war.

"The fact is the war on terror, which has driven these interventions, has not succeeded."

"It has not increased our security at home. In fact, many would say, just the opposite."

Mr Corbyn condemned Mr Trump's US administration for "recklessly" endangering global security through interventions in North Korea and Syria, while opposing President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran.

He said that while a Labour government would want a "strong and friendly" relationship with the US, it would "not be afraid to speak our mind" to Washington.

He criticised Theresa May for "pandering" to the US president during her visit to Washington earlier this year, saying:

"Waiting to see which way the wind blows in Washington isn't strong leadership. And pandering to an erratic administration will not deliver stability."

"Britain deserves better than simply outsourcing our country's security and prosperity to the whims of the Trump White House. So no more hand-holding with Donald Trump.

"A Labour government will conduct a robust and independent foreign policy made in Britain."

He also denounced the way in which Mrs May had spoken in "alarmist terms" about the rise of China and India and the need for Britain and America to use their "military might" to protect their interests.

"That is the sort of language that led us into the calamities in Iraq and Libya and other disastrous wars, that stole the post-Cold War promise of a new and peaceful world order," he said.

The Prime Minister, however, said:

"So far during this campaign we have learned one thing about Jeremy Corbyn: proud and patriotic working class people in towns and cities across Britain have not deserted the Labour Party - Jeremy Corbyn has deserted them".

Senior members of Mr Corbyn's team were present for the speech, including Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry and Shadow Attorney General Baroness Chakrabarti.

But Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith - whose support for the Trident nuclear deterrent is at odds with her leader's personal view - was notably absent from the event.