Labour Promises To End 'Aggressive Interventionist' Wars

The Shadow Foreign Secretary has told the Labour conference that the party must be ready to “lead the world” in a different direction.

Emily Thornberry MP told the gathering in Liverpool that under Jeremy Corbyn they were committed to defending the UK but rejected aggression.

Speaking at the conference on Tuesday, Ms Thornberry said: "We as the Labour party and government must be there to lead the world in a different direction."

Ms Thornberry further assured that the party would continue to support the forces by adhering to the promises on defence spending.

"With Nia Griffth's leadership, we will support our forces, maintain 2% defence spending, invest more in peacekeeping, respect our international treaties and never hesitate to defend ourselves - our allies and our citizens abroad... 

"But equally we will never as a party go back to supporting illegal, aggressive wars and interventions with no plans for the aftermath and no thought for the consequences - whether in terms of innocent lives lost or the ungoverned spaces created, within which terrorist groups can thrive." 

The comments seemed to have been pointed towards the conservative party as well as former Labour leaders and Prime Ministers Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.

Within the four day conference, organisers said they had reduced the number of big-name speeches.

In response, Ms Griffith said: "it's not about speeches it's about actions."

Last year, Labour had to put together a manifesto with Jeremy Corbyn's name on because of the snap election.

Outside the conference in Liverpool, Ms Griffith told Forces News they remain committed to the pledges they made in last year's manifesto.

"Labour is very clear that we put the defence of this country at the topmost importance and that we are fully prepared to spend a proper 2% of GDP on our defence needs", said Ms Griffith.

The Shadow Defence Secretary added that moving forward, despite the looming concerns over Brexit, that they would make sure the Armed Forces were properly paid and deal with the recruitment crisis.