Joining the US in air strikes against jihadist group Isil would be a mistake, Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn warned Parliament yesterday.

Responding to comments from Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond that Britain would have to consider military action in the Middle East Mr Corbyn, an elected member of the Stop the War Coalition, said the government must learn from the nations previous mistakes.

He told MPs he was no supporter, sympathiser or apologist for IS, but said: “Surely some basic understanding of history will recognise that our interventions, our behaviour, American interventions, American behaviour have created the circumstances by which Isil has grown up.

“And the money that is now going into that region for arms from Saudi sources and other sources as well as all the other weapons going in are a major cause of the current conflict within Iraq.

“Surely let’s learn the lesson - intervention everywhere is not the solution. It’s working with people on development and bringing about peaceful solutions to problems rather than the obsession with military intervention around the world.”