Jeremy Corbyn says the UK needs to reconsider its air strikes against Isis in Iraq

The Labour leader wants a political solution involving big regional powers

An RAF Tornado fighter jet comes in to land at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Getty Images)

Parliament should “look again” at the decision to launch air strikes on the Isis militant group in Iraq, the leader of the Labour party has said.

Jeremy Corbyn said the policy, which was first launched in September 2014, had not been effective at resolving the conflict.

Mr Corbyn, who also opposes extending the airstrikes to Syria, called for a political solution to fighting the Isis militant group that involved regional powers in the Middle East.

“I'm not sure how successful it [military action in Iraq] has been because most of the action appears to have moved into Syria so I think we have to look again at that decision,” he told ITV News.

Mr Corbyn said airstrikes alone would not be successful and that there was no appetite for boots on the ground to make a western-led military strategy work.

Iraq’s ambassador to the UK made similar comments about the effectiveness of Western air power at a meeting in Parliament last year.

Authorisation for the airstrikes was extended in August by the Defence Secretary Michael Fallon until “at least” March 2017.

The call comes amid confusion over whether the Government will call on MPs to give it authorisation to join US airstrikes in Syria.

Mr Fallon has said he thinks the strikes should be extended to Syria, but that the Government has to be sure it would win any parliamentary vote on the issue.

The Government was defeated in a previous bid to bomb Syria by rebel anti-war Conservatives and Labour MPs led by Ed Miliband in the previous parliament.

In that case, the Government wanted to launch strikes against the Syrian regime – while the strikes being proposed now would be against the so-called “Islamic State”, who are fighting the Syrian regime.

Downing Street this morning denied dropping plans to bring the missions to Syria amid opposition from Conservative MPs.

“He’s consistently said that we would only go back to the House on this issue if there was clear consensus and that remains the case,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.

The House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee this morning warned that strikes would be no more than a “distraction” from trying to bring about a comprehensive solution to the crisis.

Mr Corbyn said he welcomed the Conservative-chaired committee’s report.

Documents revealed by the Freedom of Information Act show that British pilots are in fact already flying missions to Syria embedded in foreign airforces.