Green MP called stepping down 'the responsible thing to', as pressure mounts on Jeremy Corbyn
As pressure mounts on Jeremy Corbyn to pull out of the Stop the War Coalition’s fundraiser on Friday, the Green Party’s only MP Caroline Lucas has announced that she resigned from the group a few weeks ago. In a statement to Guido Fawkes, Lucas’ office said:
“Caroline stepped back from the Stop the War Coalition a few weeks ago. Her busy parliamentary and constituency schedule means that she doesn’t have time to fully engage with the role of a Patron and, in light of some recent StWC positions that she didn’t support, she felt standing down was the responsible thing to do. Like the Stop the War Coalition, Caroline is opposed to British bombing in Syria because it will neither keep Britain safe nor help bring about a lasting peace in Syria.”
Caroline Lucas had been the vice-president of the group, which has faced heavy criticism during weeks of tension over the Syria vote. Following Hilary Benn’s speech to Commons, the group was accused of praising ISIS after posting on its website:
“Benn does not even seem to realize that the jihadist movement that ultimately spawned Daesh is far closer to the spirit of internationalism and solidarity that drove the International Brigades than Cameron’s bombing campaign.”
Following the attacks in Paris it said France had ‘reaped the whirlwind’ of Western support for extremist violence in the Middle East.
Stop the War has also defended Russian aggression in Ukraine and Georgia, and more recently barred Syrians from speaking at its meetings on Syria.
Caroline Lucas has been a long standing and tireless critic of Western military intervention in the Middle East. Her resignation from Stop the War by no means equates to a resignation from her position on intervention; last week she said ‘the UK’s strongest contribution at this point would be through enhanced diplomacy’, and voted against airstrikes in Syria.
But her resignation has intensified the spotlight on Jeremy Corbyn; should he follow Lucas’ example and distance himself from such a controversial group?
Ruby Stockham is a staff writer at Left Foot Forward
32 Responses to “Caroline Lucas has resigned from Stop the War Coalition”
JAMES MCGIBBON
Is it a particular war they want to stop or all wars.? Do they support a war? Strange bunch and why do they get so much publicity? Who the fuck are they?
Jacob723
If she was a woman of principle, she would not have been there year after year backing StW’s dictator-promoting service and only left when an uncomfortable media light was shone on it – and therefore her.
David Lindsay
It should have been wound up years ago. Jeremy Corbyn goes back to its very foundation, in the phenomenal, and entirely vindicated, popular campaign against the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Therefore, he has the authority to tell it to call it a day. The peace movement did not begin with the Stop the War Coalition, nor would it end with the Stop the War Coalition.
James Luchte
This is merely an attempt to suppress alternative voices and protest in the UK under its far-right Tory government – in its alliance with right-wing Labour Blairites. They are all war criminals now. Jeremy Corbyn should remained focused on re-building the Labour party and the left opposition – as is happening all through Europe and around the world.
Brad JJ
Wow. Really wow. Stop the War is looking seriously insane. The broad left should try focussing upon political education of the activist young. Political correctness (with its exclusive rule-bases self-censorship and fixed ideas; its operating from principles and not empirically) has opened the doors for the dumb but pure to wrap themselves up in all sort of nonsense.