Jeremy Corbyn, Labour, and the Kurds
Election manifestos tend to focus on domestic offers, while their foreign policy sections are often a little fuzzier. They do however contain clues as to the likely behaviour of parties when in government, where prime ministers and their advisers wield strong executive power, especially in times of crisis.
Mainstream parties often work hard to cultivate ties with sister parties, but Labour’s internationalism is more deeply embedded in its DNA than most – now more so than ever with Jeremy Corbyn at the helm.
Corbyn spent decades in parliament embracing often marginal international causes and was known as the hard-left’s ‘foreign minister’. Slamming the intervention in Iraq was and is a major component of his appeal to party members.
This column examines the Labour manifesto’s possible implications for the Kurds.
Corbyn condemned the chemical bombardment of Halabja in 1988 and the subsequent British participation in the Baghdad arms fair. He visited Iraqi Kurdistan just after the uprising in 1991 to meet Masoud Barzani and others.
Corbyn launched and chaired the Stop the War Coalition to oppose military intervention in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere.
Full disclosure – in 2003, I helped form the Labour Friends of Iraq (LFIQ), which supported the Iraqi democratic process and federalism, but opposed the anti-war movement’s support for the “struggle of Iraqis, by whatever means they find necessary” against the occupation, despite the murder of Iraqi civilians and British soldiers.
We reached out to Iraqi trade unionists like Hadi Saleh, who met British MPs and was later grotesquely tortured and murdered by insurgents loyal to Saddam Hussein. LFIQ also helped defeat a push to persuade Labour to support the demand of an immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq, which would have left a dangerous security vacuum.
The core of the anti-war movement is now at the heart of the Labour leadership – Corbyn himself and several key aides – and it is therefore no surprise that the manifesto states: “After years of failed foreign interventions and wars, we will end the ‘bomb first, talk later’ approach and instead have a foreign policy based on peace, justice, and human rights” – a caricature of Tony Blair’s decision on Iraq.
Kurdistani leaders, who tell visiting MPs of the importance of British engagement, can take comfort from the party’s commitments “to invest an additional £400 million in our diplomatic capacity to secure Britain’s role as a country that promotes peace… and works through international organisations to secure political settlements to critical issues”.
A Corbyn government would probably not contemplate military action under any circumstances.
The manifesto specifically says “the treatment of the Kurdish people in Syria, including by Turkey… has been met with total inaction and apathy by the current UK government”. That short timeframe excludes the use of RAF jets by Conservative governments to protect both Erbil and Kobane against the Islamic State group (ISIS) in 2014 and 2015 – decisions Corbyn opposed.
Labour’s manifesto also promises to review UK security strategies “to protect those vulnerable to the recruitment propaganda and ideologies of the far-right and others who promote terror as a political strategy”.
The far-right is lethal but less significant than jihadist groups which are relegated to secondary importance.
If elected, Labour should identify the Kurdistan Region as a major ally in upholding religious pluralism and challenging extremism.
Many party members are unfamiliar with why the overthrow of Saddam is widely seen in the Kurdistan Region as a liberation and are often not aware of the differences between the four Kurdistans. But many Labour members instinctively sympathize with the Kurds. The new intake of Labour MPs could potentially include two Kurds from Turkey.
The Labour manifesto certainly marks a decisive break with the domestic and foreign policies of previous Conservative and Labour governments, although it currently seems improbable that Labour can win the election.
Either way, the Kurdistan Region and its friends should seek to influence the government and opposition parties of a key member of the United Nations and NATO and could do with more external support of the kind that US Vice President Mike Pence offered this week.
Gary Kent is the Secretary of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) and a Fellow of Soran University. He writes this column for Rudaw in a personal capacity. The address for the all-party group is appgkurdistan@gmail.com. The APPG is currently suspended ahead of the general election.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.
Mainstream parties often work hard to cultivate ties with sister parties, but Labour’s internationalism is more deeply embedded in its DNA than most – now more so than ever with Jeremy Corbyn at the helm.
Corbyn spent decades in parliament embracing often marginal international causes and was known as the hard-left’s ‘foreign minister’. Slamming the intervention in Iraq was and is a major component of his appeal to party members.
This column examines the Labour manifesto’s possible implications for the Kurds.
Corbyn condemned the chemical bombardment of Halabja in 1988 and the subsequent British participation in the Baghdad arms fair. He visited Iraqi Kurdistan just after the uprising in 1991 to meet Masoud Barzani and others.
Corbyn launched and chaired the Stop the War Coalition to oppose military intervention in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere.
Full disclosure – in 2003, I helped form the Labour Friends of Iraq (LFIQ), which supported the Iraqi democratic process and federalism, but opposed the anti-war movement’s support for the “struggle of Iraqis, by whatever means they find necessary” against the occupation, despite the murder of Iraqi civilians and British soldiers.
We reached out to Iraqi trade unionists like Hadi Saleh, who met British MPs and was later grotesquely tortured and murdered by insurgents loyal to Saddam Hussein. LFIQ also helped defeat a push to persuade Labour to support the demand of an immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq, which would have left a dangerous security vacuum.
The core of the anti-war movement is now at the heart of the Labour leadership – Corbyn himself and several key aides – and it is therefore no surprise that the manifesto states: “After years of failed foreign interventions and wars, we will end the ‘bomb first, talk later’ approach and instead have a foreign policy based on peace, justice, and human rights” – a caricature of Tony Blair’s decision on Iraq.
Kurdistani leaders, who tell visiting MPs of the importance of British engagement, can take comfort from the party’s commitments “to invest an additional £400 million in our diplomatic capacity to secure Britain’s role as a country that promotes peace… and works through international organisations to secure political settlements to critical issues”.
A Corbyn government would probably not contemplate military action under any circumstances.
The manifesto specifically says “the treatment of the Kurdish people in Syria, including by Turkey… has been met with total inaction and apathy by the current UK government”. That short timeframe excludes the use of RAF jets by Conservative governments to protect both Erbil and Kobane against the Islamic State group (ISIS) in 2014 and 2015 – decisions Corbyn opposed.
Labour’s manifesto also promises to review UK security strategies “to protect those vulnerable to the recruitment propaganda and ideologies of the far-right and others who promote terror as a political strategy”.
The far-right is lethal but less significant than jihadist groups which are relegated to secondary importance.
If elected, Labour should identify the Kurdistan Region as a major ally in upholding religious pluralism and challenging extremism.
Many party members are unfamiliar with why the overthrow of Saddam is widely seen in the Kurdistan Region as a liberation and are often not aware of the differences between the four Kurdistans. But many Labour members instinctively sympathize with the Kurds. The new intake of Labour MPs could potentially include two Kurds from Turkey.
The Labour manifesto certainly marks a decisive break with the domestic and foreign policies of previous Conservative and Labour governments, although it currently seems improbable that Labour can win the election.
Either way, the Kurdistan Region and its friends should seek to influence the government and opposition parties of a key member of the United Nations and NATO and could do with more external support of the kind that US Vice President Mike Pence offered this week.
Gary Kent is the Secretary of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) and a Fellow of Soran University. He writes this column for Rudaw in a personal capacity. The address for the all-party group is appgkurdistan@gmail.com. The APPG is currently suspended ahead of the general election.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.