LABOUR leadership front-runner Jeremy Corbyn has said Tony Blair could be put on trial for war crimes if evidence suggests he broke the law over the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Speaking on Tuesday night’s Newsnight Corbyn was asked if the former Prime Minister should face prosecution.
The veteran left-winger said: “If he has committed a war crime, yes. Everybody who has committed a war crime should be.
“It was an illegal war. I am confident about that. Indeed, Kofi Annan (UN Secretary General at the time of the war) confirmed it was an illegal war and therefore (Tony Blair) has to explain to that.
“Is he going to be tried for it? I don’t know. Could he be tried for it? Possibly.”
The Islington North MP said he expects the Chilcot report will force Blair to explain his relationship with George W Bush in the run-up to the war.
He said: “The Chilcot report is going to come out sometime. I hope it comes out soon. I think there are some decisions Tony Blair has got to confess or tell us what actually happened. What happened in Crawford, Texas, in 2002 in his private meetings with George Bush.
“Why has the Chilcot report still not come out because – apparently – there is still debate about the release of information on one side or the other of the Atlantic. At that point Tony Blair and the others that have made the decisions are then going to have to deal with the consequences of it.”
Corbyn also made it clear he is opposed to British involvement in air strikes against Daesh forces in Iraq and Syria. A vote on extending the UK’s role in the region looks likely to happen when Parliament resumes next month.
Corbyn said: “I would want to isolate Isis. I don’t think going on a bombing campaign in Syria is going to bring about their defeat. I think it would make them stronger. I am not a supporter of military intervention. I am a supporter of isolating (Daesh) and bringing about a coalition of the region against them.”
The unlikely favourite for the top job has also said that he would work with the SNP in the event of a minority Labour Government in 2020.
In an interview with Aaron Bastani for Novara Media, and highlighted by the Commonspace, Corbyn was asked if he would agree with Ed Miliband, that he’d “rather see a Conservative majority government than a Labour/SNP coalition”.
Corbyn answered: “No I wouldn’t. I would be saying that I want there to be a majority Labour government. If there isn’t a Labour majority but a minority and we’ve got to work with other parties – probably on the basis of a day-to-day arrangement or an arrangement through ... what’s it called ... a supply arrangement then do that. Now obviously you have to work with other parties to get things through, and I would be prepared to do that.”
In yesterday’s Guardian, Labour MP, Alan Johnson threw his substantial weight behind Yvette Cooper. Johnson, who is popular with the left and the right of the party, said the party should end the madness around the “cheerfully disloyal” Corbyn and make Cooper Labour’s first female leader.
A private poll last week suggested that, after second preferences were taken into consideration, the race for Labour leadership would be between Corbyn and Cooper.
Salmond challenges Cameron over new promise to demand Chilcot publication
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