Labour shadow minister offers to consult anti-war coalition on airstrikes

A former Labour MP has said Labour has “jumped the shark” after a shadow foreign minister said the party would consult the Stop the War Coalition before deciding whether to back airstrikes in Syria.

Catherine West made the remarks at a meeting organised by the anti-war group. She said: “Obviously, if that proposal does come forward, then we will need to speak to you and talk to you about what your view on that is.”

Tom Harris, former MP for Glasgow South, on hearing the news of the consultative status being given to the Stop the War Coalition by a frontbenchLabour spokesman, immediately threatened to quit the party.

A Labour spokesman later said, according to the Press Association: “Labour would, of course, listen to representations from the Stop the War Coalition, as it would from other external bodies, before coming to any decision.”

Jeremy Corbyn stood down as chairman of Stop the War after becoming Labour leader in September.

Harris, defeated as Labour MP for Glasgow South in May, responded on Facebook:“After 60 per cent votes for sure fire election losers, IRA-supporting Shadow Chancellors and Scottish Labour unnecessarily splitting the party on issues over which it has no responsibility, we have a Shadow Minister telling “Stop the War” – a madcap coalition of trots, Islamists and anti-west fury chimps – that Labour will consult them on how it will vote on Syria.

“So that’s it. Labour has jumped the shark. It has gone from “a bit bonkers” to “irredeemable” in the space of a single day.

“And I give up. That’s it for me. Giving. Up. Goodbye.”

He said subsequently he was not quitting the party, but his remarks reflected the continuing anger in sections of the parliamentary party at its leadership.

The Stop the War Coalition has adopted a series of controversial positions, including on whether UK soldiers should be attacked by resistance fighters in Iraq.

The tensions continued at a meeting of the parliamentary Labour Party on Monday night where Iain McNicol, the party’s general secretary, told MPs he would be raising the issue of Andrew Fisher, a political adviser to Corbyn, at a meeting with the Labour leader on Wednesday.