Seumas Milne, now the Labour leader's strategy chief, said there was 'no case' for thousands of US personnel to be allowed to stay in the country

Jeremy Corbyn's closest aide called for US bases in Britain to be closed down saying the UK should no longer support Washington's 'declining empire'.

Seumas Milne, now the Labour leader's strategy chief, said there was 'no case' for thousands of US personnel to be allowed to stay in the country.

In a 2014 article, Mr Milne dismissed the historic Special Relationship as just a way of maintaining a 'system of global domination and privilege'.

He also slated the Nato military alliance as a 'latter-day colonial expeditionary force' and questioned its role in the Cold War - swiping that US troops had stayed in the UK 'supposedly to repel invasion from the Soviet Union'.

The comments will fuel fears that the Transatlantic alliance - the mainstay of UK security policy for more than 70 years - will crumble if Mr Corbyn gets into power.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said US bases 'not only enhance our security but guarantee investment into local economies'.

Labour peer Admiral Lord West, former head of the navy, told MailOnline the call was 'extraordinary' and would 'delight' Russian president Vladimir Putin. He said people like Mr Milne were driven by a 'visceral hatred' of America.

The row came as Mr Corbyn declared that he wants to hand the UK overseas territory of the Chagos Islands - including Diego Garcia, where the US has a military base - to Mauritius.

The Labour leader has also launched a series of salvos at America during the campaign, including condemning US food for being laced with 'rat hair and maggots'. He has also slammed Donald Trump, with the president retorting that the veteran left--winger would be 'very bad' for the UK.

A Labour spokeswoman said Labour would do 'whatever is necessary and effective to keep the British people safe' - but did not comment on whether the party was committed to keeping US bases.

In his article for the Guardian in January 2014, Mr Milne compared the presence of US troops on British soil to the 'Norman invasion' in the 11th century.

'There has been no precedent since 1066 for the presence of American forces in a string of military bases for the better part of a century,' he wrote.

'They arrived in 1942 to fight Nazi Germany. But they didn't head home in 1945; instead, they stayed on for the 40-odd years of the cold war, supposedly to repel invasion from the Soviet Union.

'Nor did they leave when the Cold War ended and the Soviet Union collapsed, but were invited to remain as the pivot of the anti-Soviet Nato alliance.'

Mr Milne said 10,000 US military personnel were stationed at 'dozens of secretive facilities' across the country.

The then-columnist complained that Britain had joined the US in 'one war of aggression after another' under the guise of the War on Terror.

The row came as Mr Corbyn (pictured in Stoke-on-Trent today) declared that he wants to hand the UK overseas territory of the Chagos Islands - including Diego Garcia, where the US has a military base - to Mauritius

Condemning Nato - which Labour is committed to maintaining despite Mr Corbyn's history of strident criticism - he said; 'Nato has morphed from a self-declared defensive alliance into a latter-day colonial expeditionary force, under the cover of increasingly discredited humanitarian rhetoric.'

He said successive UK governments had 'mortgaged Britain's security and independence to a foreign power – and placed its armed forces, territory and weaponry at the disposal of a system of global domination and privilege'.

Mr Milne admitted that the alliance with the US would be 'difficult to disentangle'.

Corbyn says he would hand UK overseas territory of Chagos Islands to Mauritius Jeremy Corbyn today declared that he wants to hand the UK overseas territory of the Chagos Islands - including Diego Garcia, where the US has a military base - to Mauritius. The UN general assembly - but not the security council - voted to set a deadline of today for the UK overseas territory to be handed to Mauritius. Mauritius says it was forced to trade the small archipelago in the Indian Ocean in 1965 for independence. The UK government has always rejected the sovereignty claim - but it has been an obsession for left-wing politicians such as Mr Corbyn for decades. Asked today if he would grant the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, Mr Corbyn said 'absolutely' and complained that the islanders had been 'forcibly removed' and deserved compensation. 'I've been involved in the Chagos campaign for a very long time. What happened to the Chagos islanders was utterly disgraceful,' he said. 'They need a full apology. They need adequate compensation. They've had some, but I don't believe it's sufficient. 'And I believe the right of return to those islands is absolutely important as a symbol of the way in which we wish to behave in international law. 'So yes, we will carry that out. And I'm looking forward to being in government to write one of the wrongs of history.' Advertisement

But he added: 'There is no case for maintaining foreign military bases to defend the country against a non-existent enemy.

'They should be closed. Instead of a craven 'partnership' with a still powerful, but declining empire, Britain could start to have an independent relationship with the rest of the world.'

The Labour spokeswoman said: 'Jeremy Corbyn will do whatever is necessary and effective to keep the British people safe.

'He has consistently made the right calls in the interests of peace and security at home and abroad.

'In government Labour will spend at least 2 per cent of GDP on defence and expand our commitment to peacekeeping around the world.'

Mr Wallace said:' The UK-US special relationship has existed since the Second World War and is one of our most enduring alliances.

'US service personnel based in the UK not only enhance our security but guarantee investment into the local economies.'

Lord West said: 'What rubbish he is talking. Nato is the most important alliance for the security of Europe that there is.

'It is only the fact that we have got America there as the final cover for if things went wrong that has made sure that nothing has really happened over the years.

'I am afraid people like Seumas Milne have a visceral hatred of America that I find quite extraordinary.

'It would be extraordinary to tell an ally to close bases here that are part of our alliance structure for the security of our nation and of Europe.

'It would be something that Putin would be delighted about. He would love that to happen. I bet he wishes he was able to close down those bases because it would make us more vulnerable.'

The UN general assembly - but not the security council - voted to set a deadline of today for the UK overseas territory to be handed to Mauritius.

Mauritius says it was forced to trade the small archipelago in the Indian Ocean in 1965 for independence - and the issue has been totemic for left-wing politicians such as Mr Corbyn for decades.

Mr Corbyn has also slammed Donald Trump (pictured at the White House with First Lady Melania yesterday), with the president retorting that the veteran left--winger would be 'very bad' for the UK

Asked today if he would grant the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, Mr Corbyn said 'absolutely' and complained that the islanders had been 'forcibly removed' and deserved compensation.

'I've been involved in the Chagos campaign for a very long time. What happened to the Chagos islanders was utterly disgraceful,' he said.

'They need a full apology. They need adequate compensation. They've had some, but I don't believe it's sufficient.

'And I believe the right of return to those islands is absolutely important as a symbol of the way in which we wish to behave in international law.

'So yes, we will carry that out. And I'm looking forward to being in government to write one of the wrongs of history.'