Owen Smith, Labour leader hopeful, has raised eyebrows after suggesting IS should be included “round the table” during negotiation talks. Smith said:
“Ultimately, all solutions to these crises, these sort of international crises, do come about through dialogue.
“So eventually if we are to try and solve this, all of the actors do need to be involved. At the moment, Isil (Isis/Daesh) are clearly not interested in negotiating.
He added: “At some point, for us to resolve this, we will need to get people round the table.”
The comment took place on the BBC News’ Victoria Derbyshire Live programme. Corbyn, also present, ruled out such negotiations
Corbyn, who is in a bid to retain his Labour Leadership from up and coming Owen Smith, said “They are not going to be round the table. No.”
Smith has been accused of trying to “out-Corbyn” Corbyn, whom is known for his far-left views and almost ‘hippy’ ideology, by Tory member Johnny Mercer. Mercer said:
“Everyone knows negotiation is far more desirable than violence in any conflict, but to suggest it in this case, is to entirely misunderstand and fail to grasp the challenge posed by Daesh.
“His desperate attempts to out-Corbyn Jeremy Corbyn have led him to the view that barbaric murderers who behead journalists and lynch homosexuals are now the sort of people that we should negotiate with.
“It shows that whoever wins this increasingly bizarre leadership election, I’m afraid Labour just cannot be trusted with keeping us safe.”
