'I'm not a pacifist', Jeremy Corbyn to insists in speech on national security

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn
PA
Hatty Collier12 May 2017
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Jeremy Corbyn will insist he is “not a pacifist” and accepts that military action is needed “as a last resort” as he gives a speech on the campaign trail in London today.

The Labour leader will vow to do “everything necessary” to protect the country if he is elected prime minister on June 8.

But he will say the "bomb first, talk later" tactics of recent UK and American governments had failed and that Britain's best defence lay in seeking a peaceful solution to the world's problems.

He is also expected to accuse Theresa May of “pandering” to the US administration of Donald Trump in a way that heightened the security risk of Britain.

In a speech to the Chatham House international affairs think tank in central London, he is expected to say: "The best defence for Britain is a government actively engaged in seeking peaceful solutions to the world's problems.

"But I am not a pacifist. I accept that military action, under international law and as a genuine last resort, is in some circumstances necessary.

"But that is very far from the kind of unilateral wars and interventions that have almost become routine in recent times."

He will say that "outsourcing" Britain's security to the Trump administration is the wrong approach and that a Labour government would pursue conduct an independent foreign policy "made in London".

In a swipe at Mrs May, he will say: "Waiting to see which way the wind blows in Washington isn't strong leadership. And pandering to an erratic Trump 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 London."

Mr Corbyn will say that the US-led "war on terror" which followed the 9/11 attacks of 2001 had failed to deliver security and that a new approach was called for.

Mr Corbyn, who has a long record of outspoken criticism of British and US military interventions, including in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, will say the UK's interests are best served by pursuing peace.

The Conservatives have repeatedly accused Mr Corbyn of weaknesses on national security and previously taunted him over refusing to commit to striking against terrorism and over his position on immigration and the nuclear deterrent.

Mrs May is set to give a rival speech as she hits the campaign trail in the North East.

Following the leak of Labour's election manifesto promising to re-nationalise key industries and end years of austerity, Mrs May will say it is clear that under Mr Corbyn the party had lost touch with its traditional supporters.

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