Embarrassment for Jeremy Corbyn as Labour youth wing backs Nato withdrawal

The youth wing of the Labour party has voted at odds with the leadership by calling for Britain to withdraw from the Nato alliance.



Young Labour, the organisation for party members aged 14 to 26, opted for a motion at its annual conference which said “Labour should commit to withdrawal from Nato on the basis that it no longer meets our collective security needs”.

It added that Nato’s “continual aggression makes people in the UK less safe than they otherwise would”.

The motion, which also branded US President Donald Trump a “fascist”, added: “From Guyana to Vietnam to Iraq, the Labour party [has] all too often been complicit in American overseas aggression.

"Nato has been the lynchpin and institutional expression of American imperialism.

"Like its leader, shadow chancellor and shadow home secretary, the Labour party should be avowedly anti-imperialist.”

The move is difficult for Jeremy Corbyn, who despite being a previously vocal opponent of Nato has committed to supporting the alliance since becoming Labour leader.

The youth group also rejected a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine and called for banks to come under public ownership.

A spokesman for Mr Corbyn said: “Jeremy and Labour are committed to Nato, as laid out in our manifesto.”