Jeremy Corbyn to apologize for Iraq war on behalf of the Labour Party

Jeremy Corbyn is set to use his first conference speech as Labor leader to apologize on behalf of his party for taking Britain into war in Iraq, The Independent reported Saturday.

In a sign of how Corbyn wants to reshape the public's view of the party under his leadership, he is expected to say that Labor has learnt its lesson from the conflict and will "never make the same mistake again".

He will add that in future Britain's role in international affairs needs to change to the promotion of conflict resolution and co-operation rather than using UK forces to achieve regime change.

An apology will delight Labor activists and be welcomed by some senior members of the parliamentary party who hope it will pre-empt criticisms of former ministers when the Chilcot inquiry finally reports later this year.

"We are urging him to make the apology in his speech. It would be surprising if he did not take the opportunity to do it on Tuesday," said one Labor MP who supports Corbyn.

But the move will cause disquiet among some in the center of the party who fear it will reinforce public perceptions that Labor are "soft" on national security. That view is likely to be re-enforced if, as expected, the party decides to hold an emergency debate on whether Labor should support the renewal of Trident during the conference.

Source: MENA