‘Apologise!’ Corbyn heckled by Labour MP as he criticises Israel instead of condemning Assad

A Labour MP heckled Jeremy Corbyn during a parliamentary debate on Syria on Monday evening, demanding he “apologise” as the former Labour leader failed to condemn Assad but criticised Israel instead.

David Taylor, who represents Hemel Hempstead, chanted “no apology then”, and “apologise” during a fractious session in the House.

Corbyn did not mention former Syrian despot Bashar al-Assad in his intervention in the House of Commons, but spoke generally of the “horrors of war, torture and imprisonment”.

Instead, the independent MP for Islington North asked whether Foreign Secretary David Lammy was “satisfied that Israel will withdraw immediately from the area that it has illegally occupied over the past couple of days, just north of the already illegally occupied Golan heights?”

He also asked about the presence of Turkish troops in northern Syria.

Although not clearly picked up by either the television microphones or the Deputy Speaker in the chair, Taylor confirmed that he heckled Corbyn to the JC.

He added: “It's well-documented that Corbyn and co spent more energy casting doubt on whether chemical weapons were being used than on ways to protect civilians. I'm glad our party has moved on from this period.”

He continued: “What's crucial now is that Syrian voices are at the forefront of our approach going forward, and I'm confident they are, particularly with the £300m increase in funding for the White Helmets announced by the Labour Government last week. I hope we can find a political solution for a free Syria and the international community steps up to help with the humanitarian situation and reconstruction.”

In 2016, human rights activists, including Peter Tatchell, disrupted a speech given by Corbyn to demand he do more to condemn Assad and Russia’s role in the conflict in Syria.

In 2018, he refused to blame President Assad for a chemical weapons attack that killed civilians. 

In his intervention own in the debate yesterday, Taylor attacked “some Members of this House” for “the denial and downplaying of Assad’s crimes over the years”.

He shared “the delight of my Syrian friends that Assad has gone” adding, “I only wish that the world had acted to support the Syrian people sooner, and that our dear friend Jo Cox was around to see this.”

Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was compared to an escaping rat by Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who told MPs: “There were those who used to call Assad ‘the lion of Damascus.’ Now we see the reality: Assad is the rat of Damascus, fleeing to Moscow with his tail between his legs. How fitting he should end up there. We see streets of Syrians cheering his demise, tearing down his statutes and re-uniting with loved ones who had been disappeared.”

The Foreign Secretary added that: “Assad’s demise is not just a humiliation for him and his henchman; it is a humiliation for Russia and Iran. Iran’s so-called axis of resistance is crumbling before our eyes, and all Vladimir Putin has got from his attempt to prop up Assad for more than a decade is a fallen dictator filing for asylum in Moscow.”

Lammy went on to say that “with events moving so quickly, the government have been taking every available opportunity to underline our priorities” and had spoken to regional allies, including Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar over the weekend.

On Sunday night, Sa’ar posted on X that he and Lammy had “discussed the dramatic developments in Syria, the need to protect its minorities and the security ramifications for Israel. We also discussed the ceasefire in Lebanon, The situation in Gaza and the opportunity to achieve a hostage deal.”

Back in the Commons, another left-wing MP also used the statement on Syria to criticise Israel.

Labour MP Kim Johnson, who, like Corbyn, didn’t mention Assad in her intervention, followed up on the former Labour leader’s questions by asking “what will happen if the Israelis decide that it (their incursion into Syria) is not temporary”, to which the Foreign Secretary responded “My honourable Friend rightly says that that territory is illegally occupied. I confirm from the Dispatch Box that, as has been the case under successive Governments, the UK assessment is that it is occupied land.”

Speaking to reporters on Monday afternoon, asked about reports of an Israeli strike on Syrian chemical weapons facilities, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “it is a priority for all of our allies to ensure that all parties respect international law, including the chemical weapons convention, and any use of chemical weapons would be unacceptable.” They added that there was “a UN-led process around chemical weapons.”

The continued: “Israel has been very clear that their actions in the in the buffer zone has been defensive, limited and temporary, and more generally, our position is that we focused on a political solution and peace and stability in the region.”