Labour is to call for the UN to establish safe havens protected by military force in Syria, to help millions of people who have been forced out of their homes.
Hilary Benn, the shadow foreign secretary, will announce the move to the party conference on Monday after winning the backing of Jeremy Corbyn for Labour to call for a UN security council resolution under chapter VII of the UN charter. This allows for military force to “maintain or restore international peace and security”.
The agreement between Benn and Corbyn will be seen as a shift in position by Corbyn, who said during the Labour leadership contest that he could not envisage circumstances in which Britain’s armed forces could be deployed overseas.
Labour sources said the party was unlikely to agree that Britain should be involved in protecting the safe havens and it would not agree to extending British involvement in airstrikes against Isis targets in Iraq to Syria. The call for a UN resolution also means Russia would have a veto.
Benn will use his speech to the Labour conference to criticise David Cameron for making a brief trip to the UN in New York where he will not join other heads of government or state in addressing the general assembly.
The prime minister is in New York to discuss the successors to the Millennium Development Goals but plans to allow Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, to address the general assembly.
Benn will say: “This week the United Nations general assembly is meeting in New York for the world leaders’ debate. Presidents Obama, Putin, Xi Jinping and Rouhani will be among those speaking, but it seems that the UK’s contribution will be made by the foreign secretary and not by David Cameron.
“I am telling the prime minister today that that’s just not good enough. Given the scale of the crisis in Syria the prime minister should be staying on and straining every sinew to secure a comprehensive UN security council resolution under chapter VII of the UN charter.”
Benn will say Britain should be pressing for a comprehensive political plan for Syria involving Iran and Russia. He will say: “There’s been a lot of talk about airstrikes but to bring peace, stability and security to Syria we need a much broader, more comprehensive plan than just trying to deal with [Isis]. This will require political, diplomatic and humanitarian will too.”
Labour will make clear that it is not neutral when it calls for suspected war criminals in Syria to be referred to the international criminal court. This is designed to put pressure on Bashar al-Assad.
