Jeremy Corbyn: “The war on terror is simply not working”

Claims that terrorism is a consequence of Britain’s military action abroad.

With the level of alert still to the maximum and the police combing the city of Manchester on the hunt of the network that supported the terrorist suicide, the electoral campaign resumed this Friday in United Kingdom with a little controversy.

Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn linked the country’s foreign policy and intervention in wars abroad with terrorist attacks at home.

“The war on terror is simply not working,” he said, in a very measured intervention that nevertheless provoked harsh criticism of the prime minister since the first day of the G7 in Taormina.

With only two weeks to election day, conservatives are worried about the fact that, in recent polls, Labor continues to cut its distance.

Corbyn wanted to make it clear, in a speech in London, that only terrorists are guilty of their vile actions. But he argued that it is up to governments to assess the effectiveness of their policies.

“No logic based on the actions of any government can remotely excuse or explain savagery such as this week’s massacre,” warned the veteran anti-war activist.

“But we must be brave enough to admit that the war on terror is simply not working. Many experts point to the connections between the wars we have participated in or have supported with terrorism here at home. “

“We need a smarter way to reduce the threat of countries that feed and generate terrorism,” added the Labor leader.

“No government can prevent all terrorist attacks. But its foreign policy must reduce rather than increase the terrorist threat to this country. “

His opponents were quick to accuse Corbyn of exploiting Monday’s tragedy in Manchester, where suicide bomber Salman Abedi killed 22 people, some of them children, blowing up a bomb after a concert by Ariana Grande.

Defense Minister Michael Fallon accused the Labor candidate of having “a very embarrassing and dangerous thought,” and Boris Johnson, the somewhat subtle Foreign Minister, called his comments “absolutely monstrous.”

British Prime Minister Theresa May took advantage of the final press conference of the first day of the G7 in Taormina, Sicily, to lash out at Labor. “Today I have been working here with other world leaders to fight against terrorism. But Corbyn, at the same time, has said that, in part, the attacks are our fault, ” she said in anger. “There can never be an excuse for terrorism or what happened in Manchester.

The election at the polls is between me, who work constantly to protect national security, or Jeremy Corbyn, who is not prepared for this job. “

The resumption of the campaign on Friday, interrupted after the bombing in Manchester, put all the pressure on the Tories, who saw how, in the latest polls, Labor cut even further their distance.

A poll conducted Wednesday and Thursday puts Conservatives only five points ahead, almost half a week ago and nearly four times less than when Theresa May a month ago decided to hold the elections to secure a majority Parliamentary agreement that gives her more strength to negotiate Brexit with Brussels.

The support for Labor is, in that YouGov poll, of 38%, the highest level since October 2014. But it is not the only data of the poll that should worry the conservatives: the support for May goes down and the one for Corbyn goes up, which would indicate that the strategy of the Tories of turning the elections into a kind of presidential election between the two leaders is not giving the desired result.