U.K. Candidate Says He Will Apologize for Labour Party Role in Iraq War If He's Elected

Jeremy Corbyn. (Alastair Grant / AP)

Left-wing politician Jeremy Corbyn is making quite a stir as he takes the lead in the race to replace Ed Miliband as head of the United Kingdom’s Labour Party. Corbyn has been both lauded and criticized for his progressive plans by members of his own party. Among his ideas for the future of Britain are free university education, nationalized railways and the elimination of nuclear weapons.

His most recent statement, however, is sure to ruffle the feathers of a well-known former Labour Party leader: Tony Blair.

From The Guardian:

The Labour leadership frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn is to issue a public apology over the Iraq war on behalf of the party if he becomes leader next month, a move Tony Blair repeatedly resisted.

In a statement to the Guardian, Corbyn said he would apologise to the British people for the “deception” in the runup to the 2003 invasion and to the Iraqi people for their subsequent suffering.

Such an apology would be important symbolically – particularly in a party where Iraq remains a sore point, 12 years after Britain joined the US in the invasion – and signal a wider departure from existing Labour’s defence and foreign policy.