'Jeremy Corbyn Accepts Labour Support For NATO'

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn now accepts his party's support for NATO, shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry has said.

She said Mr Corbyn has "been on a journey" since his opposition to NATO, and now accepted the will of the party that the transatlantic group was an essential part of the UK's foreign policy.

The Labour leader has previously said he would not "automatically" send UK troops to support a NATO member which came under attack and has previously voiced his opposition to the alliance.

On BBC One's Andrew Marr Show, Ms Thornberry was challenged about a series of statements on foreign policy made by Mr Corbyn, including his opposition to NATO.

Responding to 2011 footage of Mr Corbyn saying NATO is a "major problem" and a "danger to world peace", Ms Thornberry said: "That's a quote from six years ago and Jeremy has been on a journey, to coin a phrase.

"There have been a number of discussions. It is quite clear that the predominance of opinion within the Labour Party is that we are committed to NATO."

A government led by Mr Corbyn would only agree to military action on a multilateral basis "which means the UN Security Council", Ms Thornberry said, acknowledging that would potentially give Russia and China a veto over any deployment of British troops.

"It is very difficult," she said, but added the international agreement for action in Kosovo showed that in some cases there were ways around the Russian security council veto.

It comes as Defence Secretary, Sir Michael Fallon said Britain's defence spend of two percent was in line with NATO's target, as he rejected criticism of "accounting deceit".

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats are promising to meet the NATO target of spending two per cent of GDP on defence, if elected into power.