HubMP2012

Majority of Brits oppose illegal war on Iran

MARCH 3, 2026

The US’s war on Iran is illegal according to the United Nations Charter and unconstitutional under domestic law, say the US group Veterans for Peace. A war of aggression and of choice, it’s also largely based on lies.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has now admitted as much. Israel’s determination to attack Iran and the certainty that US troops would be targeted in response forced the Trump administration to take pre-emptive strikes, he said. So much for the rhetoric about a “defensive war”.

Hours before President Donald Trump began bombing Iran, the foreign minister of Oman appeared on one of the most prominent US television news programs to declare that a diplomatic breakthrough was “within reach”. Some believe that this was a situation Israel in particular was determined to forestall.

Several hundred Iranians have been killed in the first four days of the US-Israeli bombardment, most shockingly over 150 in one single attack on a girls’ school. Yet the way this is reported in the mainstream media is instructive. The BBC headlined: “At least 148 dead after reported strike on school, Iran says.” We apparently have only Iran’s word for it, and no idea of agency. Contrast the corporation’s equally prominent headline the same day: “Nine dead in missile attack on Israel as Iran strikes region”. As Owen Jones observes, “When Iranians are killed – in this case overwhelmingly children – the perpetrator isn’t named.”

Hospitals and homes have also been targeted. Nor is there evidence of any effort to minimise civilian fatalities. Casualties in a popular Teheran square on Sunday evening were victims of a “double tap” strike, where a smaller strike in the vicinity was followed by a larger one that devastated much of the neighbourhood and hit medical services responding to the first. Over twenty people were killed.

The war has quickly spread across the region, with Iran retaliating and Israel bombing southern Lebanon. Here Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said Britain will not be joining Donald Trump’s action against Iran, saying the UK did not believe in “regime change from the skies”. Yet he defended his decision to permit the US to conduct ‘defensive’ strikes on Iranian missile sites from RAF bases. Spain, to its credit, has denied US permission to use jointly operated bases to attack Iran.

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn MP retorted: “Allowing British bases to be used in an illegal war of aggression is a catastrophic and historic mistake. Britain has been dragged into another war because our Prime Minister would rather appease Donald Trump than stand up for international law. War is not a game. This shameful decision makes Britain complicit in the devastating consequences ahead – and jeopardises the safety of us all.”

He added: “You don’t bring about democracy and human rights by bombing from 35,000 feet.”

Polls show that only 28% of people in Britain support the US-Israeli aggression and only 30% support allowing British military bases to be used, with half the public against the move.  

Reaction to the US-Israeli aggression has been hostile from much of the labour movement. A Statement Against the Illegal War on Iran was issued by over a dozen trade union General Secretaries and now Sharon Graham of Unite and Andrea Egan of Unison have also added their names.

Momentum said: “Labour must be unequivocal in opposing all military action in the Middle East or risk making the same catastrophic mistakes of the past.”

Former Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon MP warned: “The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya show where this can end. The government’s focus must be on pushing Trump, Israel and Iran towards de-escalation and a ceasefire. Siding with Trump risks British involvement in another US war in the Middle East and leaves us all less safe.”

Former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP echoed these sentiments, reminding Keir Starmer that he promised in 2020 there would be Commons vote on any involvement in military action.

Former Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott said: “This is an illegal war of aggression, just as Iraq was. While Starmer is trying to cover for US-Israeli bombing, the US Pentagon has told Congress that there is no evidence that Iran was about to attack. Once again it will be civilians in the region who pay the price.”

Online briefing

7:30pm Wednesday 4th March, the Peace and Justice Project will be hosting an online briefing on the situation in Iran and discussing how our movement can hold the government to account. With PJP founder Jeremy Corbyn MP, Stop The War Coalition’s Lindsey German, Professor Paul Rogers and Iranian artist Nilly Brook.

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pictures_of_the_Israeli_attack_on_Tehran_1_Mehr_(2).jpg The army of Israel attacked parts of Tehran at dawn on Friday, June 13, 2025. Source: This is a retouched picture, which means that it has been digitally altered from its original version. Modifications: removing watermark. The original can be viewed here: Pictures of the Israel attack on Tehran 1 Mehr.jpg: . Modifications made by Oleg Yunakov. Author: Mohammadjavad Alikhani, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license

Jeremy Corbyn tables Bill to require parliamentary approval for the foreign use of UK military bases

HubMP2012

MARCH 5, 2026

The Presentation Bill, entitled the Military Action (Parliamentary Approval) Bill, is co-sponsored by Green, Independent and Labour MPs. Corbyn tabled the Bill in response to Keir Starmer’s decision to allow the US to use UK military bases in the war against Iran.

The full title of Bill is: “Bill to require parliamentary approval for the deployment of UK armed forces and military equipment for armed conflict; to require parliamentary approval for the granting of permission by Ministers for use of UK military bases and equipment by other nations for armed conflict; to require the withdrawal of that permission in circumstances where parliamentary approval is not granted; to provide for certain exemptions from these requirements; to make provision for retrospective parliamentary approval in certain circumstances; and for connected purposes.”

The co-sponsoring MPs are Diane Abbott, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Brian Leishman, John McDonnell, Adnan Hussain, Ayoub Khan, Richard Burgon, Kim Johnson, Apsana Begum, Ellie Chowns and Hannah Spencer.

Danger of being dragged into another illegal war

Corbyn has repeatedly warned of the danger of Britain being dragged into another illegal war. On March 2nd, he wrote: “Allowing British bases to be used in an illegal war of aggression is a catastrophic and historic mistake. Britain has been dragged into another war because our Prime Minister would rather appease Donald Trump than stand up for international law. War is not a game. This shameful decision makes Britain complicit in the devastating consequences ahead – and jeopardises the safety of us all.”

In Parliament, he called for Britain to press for an immediate ceasefire to prevent further loss of innocent life following the attack on an Iranian school that killed over 180 people.

And in Tribune, he argued: “By allowing US forces to use British bases to bomb Iran, Keir Starmer is echoing Tony Blair’s obedience to Washington — dragging Britain into yet another criminal war.”

He added: “For too long, Britain has blindly followed the US as it indulges in disastrous imperial fantasies. It’s time to forge a different path. Now is not the time to try to rescue a ‘special relationship’ characterised by impunity, genocide, and war. Now is the time to forge an independent foreign policy based on international law and peace.”

Spanish steps

Corbyn suggests Britain “should follow in the footsteps of Spain and say: no way, absolutely not, we will not be involved in this illegal war in any way whatsoever.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez refused any cooperation with the US in its war on Iran – which provoked an angry President Trump to say that the US would break all trade ties with Spain.  Sánchez responded: “We do not intend to be complicit in something that is bad for the world and also contradicts our values and interests. I am completely confident in our country’s economic, institutional and, I would also say, moral strength.”

Richard Burgon MP said: “I am proud to be a sponsor of Jeremy Corbyn’s new Bill, published today, that would ensure MPs get a vote on military action and on the foreign use of British military bases. This is an important part of the campaign against UK involvement in Trump’s war on Iran.”

TUC statement

Meanwhile, the TUC has issued a clear condemnation of the US and Israel’s bombing of Iran. The statement said: “The use of force outside clear United Nations authorisation represents a breach of the fundamental principles of peaceful settlement of disputes enshrined in the UN Charter. This undermines the prospects for de-escalation and fuels cycles of violence that put civilian lives at risk and threaten regional stability.”

The statement continues: “The targeting of sovereign territories and airspace violates international law and heightens the danger that the region could spiral into a wider war, with catastrophic consequences for the people of the Middle East and beyond. 

“The TUC reaffirms its steadfast commitment to the principles of peace, diplomacy, and respect for state sovereignty.

“The TUC has previously condemned the repression and murder of the Iranian people by the current regime.

“The rights, safety and well-being of working people everywhere require constructive engagement, not force. We stand with trade unions across the region who are calling for an immediate halt to hostilities and the urgent resumption of talks grounded in international law. 

“We call on the UK government to do everything it can to deliver these objectives and resist all efforts to drag us further into the conflict.

“We echo calls for all states and international actors to assume their historic responsibilities to support de-escalation, work towards comprehensive diplomatic solutions and uphold the international system of legitimacy under the United Nations Charter. 

“Trade unions must be involved in processes to end conflict and build a peace grounded in social justice.

“The TUC also supports the call of the International Trade Union Confederation for comprehensive and universal ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and to work toward convening a special session of the United Nations General Assembly in order to strengthen international efforts aimed at reducing nuclear armament and safeguarding collective security.”

Finally, we reproduce in its entirety a statement by Iranians for Palestine:

Iranians for Palestine UK Statement against the US and Israeli attack on Iran

We, UK‑based Iranians who stand firmly with the Palestinian struggle for liberation, condemn the US and Israeli attacks on Iran as an illegal act of an unprovoked war. These strikes are tearing through Iranian cities, destroying civilian infrastructure, killing and injuring ordinary people, and erasing the futures of families who have already lived through decades of repression and sanctions. This is an assault on Iran’s sovereignty and on the right of its people to live, rebuild, and determine their own future.

We have opposed the Islamic Republic and supported the brave Iranian protesters who have filled Iran’s streets demanding freedom for many decades and more recently in January 2026. But bombs do not bring democracy. Bombs silence people. When civilians are running for their lives, when homes, schools and hospitals are burning, when communication networks have shut down, the possibility of collective organising is very limited. Foreign intervention strengthens the authoritarianism of Islamic Republic, or will likely replace it with civil war, chaos and mayhem, exactly what happened in any other US intervention in the region, most prominently in Iraq in 2003.

For decades, Iranians have suffered under some of the harshest sanctions on civilians in modern history, which even included health and medical sanctions, designed to cause maximum harm to ordinary Iranians’ ability to live a normal life, while Western governments have simultaneously armed and protected Israel as it commits a genocide in Gaza and mass violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. The flagrant hypocrisy of the Western powers means that the West has nothing to say to the rest of the world about human rights or the rule of law.

No war on Iran.

Stop the genocide in Gaza.

Stop arming Israel.