Fury as Labour’s Emily Thornberry claims dictator Assad is liked
LABOUR’s foreign policy chief Emily Thornberry sparked uproar yesterday by claiming Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was “popular” - and defending Russia.
Jeremy Corbyn’s Shadow Foreign Secretary said the level of support for the Gasman among Syrians had been “underestimated” by the west.
And she said Britain and the West should leave Syria – claiming they “aren’t fighting for the sake of the Syrian people”.
She also defended Vladimir Putin for blocking an international probe into Syrian war crimes – saying America did it all the time.
Speaking to Prospect magazine, Ms Thornberry said: “There is an argument that if (Bashar al-Assad) had been as overwhelmingly unpopular as the rebels told the West at the outset then he wouldn’t be there.
“I think there has been a depth and breadth of support for Assad that has been underestimated.”
Ms Thornberry refused to condemn Russia for its role keeping Assad in power even though Putin’s regime has blocked a dozen UN resolutions calling for action against the Syrian tyrant.
She said: “People will always block resolutions.
“If you look at the number of resolutions America has blocked, I mean that’s the way of politics.”
And she also declined to support that Britain and its Nato allies are right to deploy troops to Eastern European countries which are threatened by Russia.
Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said the comments showed Mr Corbyn’s Labour is too soft on Putin’s government.
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He told The Sun: “It’s extraordinary that Emily Thornberry still can’t bring herself to criticise Vladimir Putin for propping up a vicious dictator like Assad.
“Labour need to wake up to the threat Russia poses to global security and the safety of the British people.”
Tory deputy chair James Cleverly added: “The Shadow Foreign Secretary proving she is totally unsuitable for the job she claims to aspire to.”