Labour leadership race: Jeremy Corbyn promises to apologise for Iraq war if he is elected

Labour leadership frontfrunner Jeremy Corbyn has promised to issue a public apology not only to the people of Britain but also to Iraqis for Britain's role in the Iraq war, if he is elected the party's new leader next month.

In a statement to the Guardian, Corbyn said that he will apologise to the Bristish people for the "deception" in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and to the Iraqi people for the suffering that the war caused.

He also made a vow, which the Guardian says suggests rare future UK military interventions. He said: "Let us say we will never again unnecessarily put our troops under fire and our country's standing in the world at risk. Let us make it clear that Labour will never make the same mistake again, will never flout the United Nations and international law."

Should Corbyn win the Labour leadership, it would mean that the opposition party will not support Prime Minister David Cameron's push for a vote in the House of Commons to expand current UK air strikes against the Islamic State in Iraq to include Syria.

The newspaper said the apology is aimed at wooing back party members who have either left the party or felt estranged due to the then Labour government under Tony Blair's decision to take Britain to war.

To win the general elections in 2020, Corby said the party needs to rebuild its coalition with those who opposed the Iraq conflict.

"So it is past time that Labour apologised to the British people for taking them into the Iraq war on the basis of deception and to the Iraqi people for the suffering we have helped cause. Under our Labour, we will make this apology," he added.

A total of 179 British personnel were killed in the Iraq war while the US death toll was 4,425. The Iraq Body Count project puts Iraqi civilian deaths at 219,000, although some say it is much higher.

The Guardian says that so far no leader has ever apologised for dragging the UK into the Iraq war. Blair only issued an "expression of regret" for the loss of life when he gave evidence at the Chilcot inquiry in 2011 while former Labour leader Ed Miliband only described the war as wrong.

Change in UK-US relationship if Corbyn takes over?

Corbyn, who had voted against the Iraqi invasion said: "As a party, we found ourselves in the regrettable position of being aligned with one of the worst rightwing governments in US history, even as liberal opinion in the US was questioning the headlong descent into war."

In the statement, he said the Iraq war was wrong in principle, a mistake of horrendous proportions, the price of which is still being paid.

Also as a precursor to possible Labour relations with the US should he become the party's leader or even the next UK prime minister, Corbyn said London's relationship with the US would be better in the long term if it were not regarded as likely to follow the White House without question.

Corbyn is also, according to the Guardian, sceptical about the role of Nato, especially with regards to its eastwards expansion and standoff with Russia.