Corbyn writes to Labour MPs to say he cannot support air strikes

Jeremy Corbyn has written to his MPs to say that he cannot support air strikes in Syria. In a letter sent to the parliamentary party this evening, the Labour leader writes that ‘I do not believe the Prime Minister’s current proposal for air strikes in Syria will protect our security and therefore cannot support it’. But the Shadow Cabinet will meet again on Monday, when we will attempt to reach a common view’.

Now, there are a number of possibilities here. The first is that Corbyn will allow a fully free vote on the matter, having discussed this with the Shadow Cabinet. The second is that the Labour frontbench takes one view and Corbyn takes another, which is in keeping with the way the party has behaved over the past few weeks, but odd, and it’s still not clear where that would leave backbenchers. And the third is that Corbyn will say his party cannot support air strikes and whip all MPs accordingly.