Corbyn pledges to make Labour apology for Iraq War
Labour leadership frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn has said he will make a formal apology on behalf of the Labour Party for the war in Iraq if elected leader.
Speaking to the Guardian, Corbyn said there was no need to wait for the findings of the Chilcot Inquiry “to know that mistakes were made” in taking Britain to war without support from the United Nations.
He said:
“It is past time that Labour apologised to the British people for taking them into the Iraq War on the basis of deception, and to the Iraqi people for the suffering we have helped cause.”
Corbyn has previously criticised the Chilcot Inquiry for its continued delays in publishing its report into the Iraq war. The inquiry has claimed that it is waiting for responses from those criticised in the report, but many have commented that the delays has meant that the inquiry has prioritised those its criticising over the public’s need to find out what went wrong.
Recent polls suggest the left wing politician is leading Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, and Liz Kendall in the race to become leader of the Labour Party and a possible future prime minister.