Britain needs a more open and independent relationship with the United States to avoid a repeat of the 2003 invasion of Iraq which was an "act of military aggression", opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Wednesday.
Corbyn, a veteran anti-war campaigner who opposed the conflict at the time, was speaking in parliament during a debate on Britain's joining the 2003 invasion following the publication of the long-awaited Chilcot report into the war.
"The war was not, in any way, as Sir John Chilcot says, a last resort," Corbyn said. "Frankly it was an act of military aggression launched on a false pretext, as the inquiry accepts, and has long been regarded as illegal by the overwhelming weight of international legal opinion."
He added: "There are many lessons that need to be drawn from the Iraq war ... They include the need for a more open and independent relationship with the United States and for a foreign policy based on upholding international law and the authority of the United Nations."
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