Home Affairs Committee Chair Keith Vaz MP says he supports Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s stance against the renewal of Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons, in an exclusive interview with RT’s Going Underground.
Vaz told RT’s Afshin Rattansi he has changed his mind on Trident after being “persuaded” by Corbyn’s arguments.
Vaz said he is sure Corbyn will use his “persuasive skills” to convince Labour MPs who are in favor of renewing Britain’s nuclear weapons system to back unilateral disarmament.
Speaking to Going Underground in an interview to be broadcast on Saturday, Vaz said Corbyn had made his position on Trident “very clear.”
“I support Jeremy Corbyn’s line on this. I think he has persuaded me that, he has made it very clear when he is prime minister that he is not going to be able to use these weapons, so what is the point in having them?”
Asked what he thinks of Labour MPs who remain in favor of Trident renewal, Vaz said: “I’ve known Jeremy Corbyn for all the years I’ve been in Parliament. I’m sure he will use his persuasive skills in order to put these views forward.”
“I’ve changed my mind on Trident and I’ve been persuaded by the things he’s said.”
The former junior minister in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has previously voted in favor of Trident renewal.
At a time when Labour MPs remain deeply divided over Trident renewal, Vaz’s volte-face will give Corbyn’s campaign to scrap the weapons a much needed boost.
Vaz was also pushed on why he defied Corbyn to vote in favor of extending Royal Air Force (RAF) airstrikes against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) from Iraq into Syria.
“I disagreed with him about airstrikes because I think it was important when the United Nations takes a view, that we support the United Nations.”