As fears grow of Britain becoming embroiled in the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, an anti-war coalition is taking shape in parliament.
The alliance is between the insurgent Green Party, the new left-wing Your Party, the parliamentary Independent Alliance of independent MPs and Labour backbenchers.
Jeremy Corbyn, former Labour leader and parliamentary leader of the new Your Party, on Thursday tabled a parliamentary bill with cross-party backing that would require parliament’s approval for the foreign use of British military bases.
It comes in response to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s decision on Sunday night to allow the U.S. to use UK military bases for the purpose of targeting Iranian missile sites.
The bill, called the Military Action Bill, is co-sponsored by Green MPs Ellie Chowns and Hannah Spencer, who was elected last week in the Gorton and Denton by-election.
It is also co-sponsored by Corbyn’s fellow Independent Alliance MPs Adnan Hussain and Ayoub Khan, as well as by Labour backbenchers Diane Abbott, John McDonnell, Richard Burgon, Kim Johnson, Brian Leishman and Apsana Begum.
The bill is unlikely to pass, but it will pile political pressure on the government.
Starmer is being hammered from the other side by Reform UK and the Conservative Party, urging him to back the U.S.-Israeli attack and allow the U.S. to use British bases as it pleases, not just to target missile sites.
Left-wing bloc in parliament
The Military Action Bill would require “parliamentary approval for the deployment of UK armed forces and military equipment for armed conflict”.
It would additionally “require parliamentary approval for the granting of permission by Ministers for use of UK military bases and equipment by other nations for armed conflict”.
Significantly, the bill would also “require the withdrawal of that permission in circumstances where parliamentary approval is not granted”.
Its tabling marks a new step in the development of a broad left-wing alliance in parliament. Your Party elected its central executive committee last week, with Corbyn as the parliamentary leader.
Meanwhile, the Greens have surged to second in national polls following Spencer’s historic win in the formerly Labour-held seat of Gorton and Denton in last Thursday’s by-election.
Both Corbyn and Green leader Zack Polanski have led the charge in opposing British involvement in the U.S.-Israeli attack.
Earlier this week, Polanski condemned what he called “Starmer’s utter inability to stand up to Donald Trump”.
He said:
We now face being dragged into another illegal war in the Middle East, which has now pulled in multiple countries. People in this country do not want this and it must not be allowed to happen.
Polanski demanded that Starmer “withdraw permission for the U.S. to use UK bases to launch airstrikes on Iran”.
Meanwhile, Corbyn said Britain is being “dragged into another war because our Prime Minister would rather appease Donald Trump than stand up for international law”.
YouGov polling released on Monday shows the British public opposes U.S. military action against Iran by 49 percent to 28 percent.
Exactly half of the public also opposes the government allowing the U.S. to use British airbases, with only 30 percent supporting the move.
The left-wing parliamentary bloc, rather than Reform and the Tories, appears to be representing public opinion in the House of Commons.