20,000 signatures reached
To: All Labour Party MPs and especially the Shadow Cabinet
Call on Labour MPs to support Jeremy Corbyn on Syria
We call you to give full support to Jeremy Corbyn in opposing military action by the UK in Syria.
Why is this important?
The recent Labour Party conference agreed four conditions that would have to be satisfied before military action could be supported. None of these have been satisfied:
1. Clear and unambiguous authorisation from the United Nations.
As reported by the BBC, UN Security Council resolution 2249 carried last week does not provide a legal basis for military action by the UK and does not invoke Chapter VII of the UN charter authorising the use of force.
2. A comprehensive EU-wide plan to provide humanitarian assistance to the consequent increase in the number of refugees.
In fact, the EU refugee plan is unravelling and the approach to refugees is highly fragmented.
3. That bombing is exclusively directed at military targets directly associated with 'ISIL'.
There is evidence that around 90% of drone strike victims in other conflicts were unintended casualties.
4. That any military action is subordinated to international diplomatic efforts, including the main regional powers, to end the Syrian civil war.
The shooting down of a Russian plane by Turkey in addition to differing approaches to the Assad regime and a continuing multifaceted conflict make a broadly-based, sovereign Syrian government that could retake territory currently controlled by ISIL a diminishing prospect.
We would all like to see the defeat of IS. The future of the Assad government should be determined by the Syrian peoples alone and not by Western intervention.
What is certain is that further bombing will increase the humanitarian crisis and cause civilian loss of life. Recent wars have created the sort of stateless societies in which terrorist groups like ISIL can thrive, as recently admitted by Tony Blair when he stated that the invasion of Iraq created the conditions for the rise of ISIL.
Jeremy Corbyn was elected by 59.5% of voters. It's time to stand by the democratically expressed will of the party members.
1. Clear and unambiguous authorisation from the United Nations.
As reported by the BBC, UN Security Council resolution 2249 carried last week does not provide a legal basis for military action by the UK and does not invoke Chapter VII of the UN charter authorising the use of force.
2. A comprehensive EU-wide plan to provide humanitarian assistance to the consequent increase in the number of refugees.
In fact, the EU refugee plan is unravelling and the approach to refugees is highly fragmented.
3. That bombing is exclusively directed at military targets directly associated with 'ISIL'.
There is evidence that around 90% of drone strike victims in other conflicts were unintended casualties.
4. That any military action is subordinated to international diplomatic efforts, including the main regional powers, to end the Syrian civil war.
The shooting down of a Russian plane by Turkey in addition to differing approaches to the Assad regime and a continuing multifaceted conflict make a broadly-based, sovereign Syrian government that could retake territory currently controlled by ISIL a diminishing prospect.
We would all like to see the defeat of IS. The future of the Assad government should be determined by the Syrian peoples alone and not by Western intervention.
What is certain is that further bombing will increase the humanitarian crisis and cause civilian loss of life. Recent wars have created the sort of stateless societies in which terrorist groups like ISIL can thrive, as recently admitted by Tony Blair when he stated that the invasion of Iraq created the conditions for the rise of ISIL.
Jeremy Corbyn was elected by 59.5% of voters. It's time to stand by the democratically expressed will of the party members.
