Labour leader says he's no pacifist as PM May targets working class voters

One-time peace activist, Britain's Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, sought to convince critics Friday that he would be prepared to protect the country in an attack.

The leader of the main opposition party also made it clear if he becomes prime minister in next month's general election, he would not become a puppet of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Corbyn made his first major speech about defense and global security in a keynote address at Chatham House in London.

Prime Minister Theresa May spent the day in North East England bidding to convince voters in Labour's traditional heartland to switch allegiance to the Conservatives on June 8. She also announced the Conservatives will publish its election manifesto next week.

In his speech Corbyn described the world as more unstable than even at the height of the cold war.

"The approach to international security we have been using since the 1990s has simply not worked.

"This is the fourth General Election in a row to be held while Britain is at war and our armed forces are in action in the Middle East and beyond. The 'war on terror' which has driven these interventions has failed."

Corbyn said a Trump "seems determined to add to the dangers by recklessly escalating the confrontation with North Korea and unilaterally launching missile strikes on Syria".

He said a Labour Government will want a strong and friendly relationship with the United States, adding: "we will not be afraid to speak our mind".

Corbyn added: "When Theresa May addressed a Republican Party conference in Philadelphia in January she spoke in alarmist terms about the rise of China and India and of the danger of the West being eclipsed.

"She said America and Britain had to 'stand strong' together and use their military might to protect their interests.

"This is the sort of language that led to calamity in Iraq and Libya and all the other disastrous wars that stole the post-Cold War promise of a new world order. I do not see India and China in those terms. Britain deserves better than simply outsourcing our country's security and prosperity to the whims of the Trump White House. So no more hand holding with Donald Trump. A Labour Government will conduct a robust and independent foreign policy - made in Britain."

Corbyn said a Labour government would seek to work for peace and security with all the other permanent members of the United Nations security council, the U.S., China, Russia and France.

He said he was often asked if as prime minister he would order the use of nuclear weapons.

"If circumstances arose where that was a real option, it would represent complete and cataclysmic failure. It would mean world leaders had already triggered a spiral of catastrophe for humankind."

"But let me make this absolutely clear. If elected prime minister, I will do everything necessary to protect the safety and security of our people and our country. That would be my first duty," said Corbyn, adding: "I am not a pacifist. I accept that military action, under international law and as a genuine last resort, is in some circumstances necessary."

Meanwhile, addressing an election rally in England's Tyne and Wear region, Theresa May appealed to Labour voters to put faith in her leadership as Conservative prime minister.

She said people faced a "stark choice" in the election between a prime minister who was "fixed on the future" and a backward-looking Labour.

May accused her main rival Labour Party of deserting working-class voters. Urging people to put tribal loyalties aside, May said what was now important was not how people had voted in the past, but what mattered in the future as a result of the changed political landscape.

She said Britain's future prosperity hinged on making a success of the Brexit, claiming that electing a Labour government would jeopardise that aim.

May is targeting Labour seats in the north of England which voted "Leave" in last year's EU referendum.

Pollsters continue to give May and the Conservatives a wide lead, pointing to a bigger majority for the party in the election. Endit