By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal and Tayfun Salci
LONDON
Jeremy Corbyn, the favorite to claim Labour Party leadership, said he was “very concerned” about the U.K. strikes targeting individuals in Syria.
Corbyn’s remarks came following Prime Minister David Cameron’s revelation of U.K. army strikes that killed two British citizens fighting alongside Daesh.
“I am very concerned that the government launched a strike against individuals in Syria and I am concerned that there is no legal base for that,” Corbyn told Anadolu Agency before the final campaign meeting held in North London after voting for party leadership ended Thursday.
“There was a parliamentary vote in 2013 and it did not authorize military intervention and any action taken by the British government and British military has to be in the law,” Corbyn said.
The representative of the Labour Party's left wing also addressed the refugee issue plaguing European relations, saying: “The U.K. has got to do more in the refugee crisis.”
Prime Minister David Cameron had pledged to take in 20,000 Syrian refugees, which, the Labour Party has argued, means only 4,000 would arrive this year.
Welcoming the changing public mood on the issue, the MP for the Islington North constituency -- in London -- since 1983 has called on the government to do more.
“I call on the British government to do more, not just for the Syrian refugees, but also for the migrants, refugees also stuck in camps in Calais [in the north of France],” he said.
“It is not just Syria. Syria is the biggest cause, sure, but […] there are more displaced people around the world than ever recorded in history,” Corbyn said.
Jeremy Corbyn is the runaway favorite to become the next leader of the Labour Party, which lost ground to Conservatives in May’s general election.
Voting for the next British opposition leader has ended Thursday, concluding a tumultuous campaign dominated by a left-wing front-runner whose politics have been likened to Syriza's in Greece.
The result of the Labour election, which also included a vote for a new deputy leader, will be announced on Saturday.
