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| Peter Tatchell disrupts Jeremy Corbyn speech with Syria protest | Peter Tatchell disrupts Jeremy Corbyn speech with Syria protest |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Protesters led by Peter Tatchell have disrupted a speech by Jeremy Corbyn, calling on the Labour leader to demand action to end the conflict in Syria. | Protesters led by Peter Tatchell have disrupted a speech by Jeremy Corbyn, calling on the Labour leader to demand action to end the conflict in Syria. |
| Corbyn halted his speech while several protesters held up banners with slogans including: “Step up and demand action in Syria” and “End the suffering in Aleppo”. | |
| Tatchell, a human rights campaigner who has previously supported the Labour party, shouted over the party leader to demand he do more to condemn the actions of Russia in the Syrian conflict. | Tatchell, a human rights campaigner who has previously supported the Labour party, shouted over the party leader to demand he do more to condemn the actions of Russia in the Syrian conflict. |
| As the protesters stood silently in front of Corbyn, the Labour leader said: “It’s all right, it’s OK.” | As the protesters stood silently in front of Corbyn, the Labour leader said: “It’s all right, it’s OK.” |
| Tatchell then said: “What is happening in Aleppo is a modern-day Guernica. We haven’t heard the leader of the Labour party speak out enough to demand UK air drops to besieged civilians who are dying in their thousands.” | Tatchell then said: “What is happening in Aleppo is a modern-day Guernica. We haven’t heard the leader of the Labour party speak out enough to demand UK air drops to besieged civilians who are dying in their thousands.” |
| Corbyn could be heard consulting the Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti before temporarily leaving the stage while the protest continued. | Corbyn could be heard consulting the Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti before temporarily leaving the stage while the protest continued. |
| Chakrabarti could be heard telling the Labour leader “just let them do this”. Corbyn then asked shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry: “When did we condemn the bombing?” | |
| After returning to the podium at the Methodist central hall in Westminster, he told the audience Thornberry had clearly expressed Labour’s opposition to the war in Syria and had called for an end to the conflict. | |
| Corbyn was then heckled from the audience by Tatchell, who continued to demand he do more to criticise the Russian regime, which is propping up Bashar al-Assad’s brutal dictatorship. | |
| “There has to be an end to the bombing, there has to be a ceasefire, there has to be a political solution in Syria,” the Labour leader said. He added in a question and answer session after the speech: “We have condemned all bombing in Syria, including Russian bombing, and continue to do so.” | “There has to be an end to the bombing, there has to be a ceasefire, there has to be a political solution in Syria,” the Labour leader said. He added in a question and answer session after the speech: “We have condemned all bombing in Syria, including Russian bombing, and continue to do so.” |
| Thornberry said Labour had called on the government to back air drops of aid in rebel-held eastern Aleppo. “We have taken the strongest possible stand on this issue,” she said. | Thornberry said Labour had called on the government to back air drops of aid in rebel-held eastern Aleppo. “We have taken the strongest possible stand on this issue,” she said. |
| Tatchell said he had staged the demonstration out of desperation over Corbyn’s inaction over the humanitarian crisis in the country. “We are so frustrated that the leader of the Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn, seems to have forsaken the principle of international solidarity,” he said. | |
| “He’s made no statements as far as we know in solidarity with civil societies in Syria. He’s not listening to their demands, he’s not promoting their demands, which are very simple – a UN-supervised ceasefire, for the UN to supervise the evacuation of civilians to safe havens, and most importantly right now, the airdrop of aid and medicine to besieged civilian populations,” Tatchell added. “Those are things that Jeremy Corbyn could push for in parliament right now this week. He hasn’t done so so far. We hope as a result of today, he will.” | |
| Tatchell joined forces with Syria Solidarity UK, whose spokesman said: “Western diplomats have conceded that there are no technical obstacles to delivering airdrops of food and medicine to Aleppo. What is lacking is the political will. If we stay silent, if western politicians refuse to take what actions are available to them, then they are complicit in these massacres.” | |
| Corbyn’s speech marked the anniversary of the United Nations general assembly signing the universal declaration of human rights in 1948. | Corbyn’s speech marked the anniversary of the United Nations general assembly signing the universal declaration of human rights in 1948. |
| Earlier this year the former Labour prime minister Tony Blair condemned Corbyn for inaction over Syria. “Jeremy is seen as a progressive icon as we stand by and watch the people of Syria barrel-bombed, beaten and starved into submission and do nothing,” Blair said in June. | Earlier this year the former Labour prime minister Tony Blair condemned Corbyn for inaction over Syria. “Jeremy is seen as a progressive icon as we stand by and watch the people of Syria barrel-bombed, beaten and starved into submission and do nothing,” Blair said in June. |