Corbyn: I will apologise for Iraq war on behalf of Labour if I become leader

Credit: PA Wire

Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to apologise for the Iraq War on behalf of Labour if he is elected the party's new leader.

Corbyn, who is odds-on to win the contest next month, said it was time that the party apologised for the "deception" in statement to the Guardian.

Speaking to ITV News, he said that the Iraq war was wrong and if he won the party leadership he would apologise to show "the Labour party is moving on".

Corbyn fiercely opposed the 2003 war at the time and said the decision to invade had cost Labour millions of voters.

Asked whether an apology was up to former Prime Minister Tony Blair, he said: "Mr Blair must speak for Mr Blair. I know what I did in the run up to the Iraq war, I know what opposition I mounted to the Iraq war and I've seen the consequences of that Iraq war."

Earlier this month, Corbyn suggested former Prime Minister Tony Blair could stand trial for war crimes over what he called the "illegal war".

The Islington MP faced criticism for appearing to compare Islamic State atrocities to actions by the US military in Iraq in an interview with Russia Today in June 2014.

Announcing his intent if he won the leadership on September 12, the Islington MP promised to make it more difficult to embroil the UK in further military interventions.

Some 179 British soldiers died in the conflict. Credit: Reuters

The Islington MP faced criticism for appearing to compare Islamic State atrocities to actions by the US military in Iraq in an interview with Russia Today in June 2014.

In a June 2014 interview with Moscow-funded news channel Russia Today, Corbyn said: "Yes, they [IS forces] are brutal, yes some of what they've done is quite appalling - likewise what the Americans did in Fallujah and other places is appalling."

A spokeswoman for the MP clarified his comments after the video re-surfaced.