Jeremy Corbyn is slammed by his own MPs after saying he would NEVER take military action in Syria without getting approval from RUSSIA

Jeremy Corbyn demands law banning PM from military action without MP vote

Labour leader makes clear he does not believe UK strikes on Syria were legal

Insists he would not countenance any military action without UN resolution 

Jeremy Corbyn was slammed by his own MPs today after demanding Vladimir Putin is given the final say on British military action in Syria.

The Labour leader insisted he would never countenance deploying UK forces without a UN resolution - even though Russia has the power to veto them. 

Mr Corbyn also made clear he does not accept that the strikes on Bashar Assad's chemical weapons capability by the US, UK and France were legally justified on humanitarian grounds.

And he demanded a 'war powers' law to ban the Prime Minister from taking military action without a Commons vote.

The comments immediately reignited the deep splits within Labour, amid a huge political row overTheresa May's decision to join reprisals over Assad's atrocity in Douma last Saturday.

Jeremy Corbyn insisted he would never countenance military action without a UN resolution - even though Russia has the power to veto them

The Labour leader also made clear he does not accept that the strikes on Syria by the UK, US and France were legally justified on humanitarian grounds

Theresa May stepped back after a tumultuous 24 hours and was seen making her regular Sunday visit to church in Maidenhead with husband Philip

Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr show, Mr Corbyn defied the growing weight of proof to again raised doubts about whether the Assad regime had been behind the attack that killed at least 75 people including children.

The veteran left-winger - who for decades has been urging NATO states to disarm and suggested the West was to blame for Russia's annexation of Crimea - claimed chlorine had been used by 'a number of parties in the conflict'. 

Asked if there were any circumstances in which he would back air strikes in Syria, Mr Corbyn replied: 'I can only countenance involvement in Syria if there is a UN authority behind it. 

'If we could get to a process in the UN where you get to a ceasefire, you get to a political solution, you then may well get to a situation where there could be a UN force established to enforce that ceasefire. That surely would save a lot of lives.'

Mr Corbyn was also challenged that he had previously opposed military action even when the UN had mandated it.

In 2015 he voted against UK involvement in airstrikes against ISIS in Syria - although many other Labour politicians supported the government.   

Mr Corbyn said that if Britain wants to 'get the moral high ground around the world' it must abide by international law for taking military action. 

He said the humanitarian grounds used by the UK to justify strikes were 'debatable', saying he only believed self-defence and a UN resolution were enough.

'Where is the legal basis for this?' he said. 

Mr Corbyn said there should be a law that forced the PM to secure a Commons majority before taking action.

'I think what we need in this country is something more robust like a War Powers Act so that governments do get held to account by Parliament for what they do in our name,' he said.  

Labour MP Chuka Umunna was among those who slammed Mr Corbyn's position today.

He told ITV’s Peston programme: ‘It is unrealistic to expect to have unanimity in the international community to act.

'The problem the UN has at the moment is because of Russia and its inevitable veto.. the UN is rendered toothless.’

He added: ‘Ultimately you cannot have the use of chemical weapons go unanswered by the international community.

‘I don’t believe you should hide behind the ultimate veto by Russia at the UN security council.’ 

Mr Corbyn and Mr Johnson were both appearing on the BBC's flagship political programme this morning

Labour MP Chuka Umunna, pictured right on ITV's Peston programme today, was among those who slammed Mr Corbyn's position

GCHQ is thought to be monitoring the web to pick up any signs of cyber aggression from the Kremlin, following the unified missile strikes on Syrian chemical basis in Damascus

Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw praised French President Emmanuel Macron for his willingness to work with the wider UN general assembly, rather than relying on the security council.

In a pointed jibe at Mr Corbyn, he said: 'Others who simply parrot - “this must be resolved by the Security Council” - wilfully ignore Russia’s repeated vetoes - including of inspectors’ power to apportion blame for the attacks.'

Fellow Labour MP John Woodcock described Mr Corbyn's refusal to accept humanitarian concern as a legal basis for action was 'deeply troubling'.  

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said taking military action against the Assad regime had been the 'wrong thing to do'.

She told ITV's Peston On Sunday: 'We think that it should be in law that there should be a vote in Parliament before we take military action. 

'Not urgent cases. Clearly not when we are under attack or the Prime Minister has been kidnapped, or anything like that.' 

But David Lidington, the Prime Minister's deputy, said there were 'no plans' for legislation.  

Boris Johnson today said failure to response to the Syrian regime's use of illegal chemical weapons against his own people would have undermined 'civilised values'.

But amid fears of revenge attacks by Russia, the Foreign Secretary stressed there was no intention of getting more deeply involved in the Syrian civil war.

Theresa May, pictured at a press conference yesterday, is facing a backlash over the Syrian bombing after not going to Parliament for a vote first

The US, UK and France hailed their missile strikes in the early hours of yesterday morning as having successfully degraded the capability of Assad to deploy chemical weapons.

Some 75 people, including children, are said to have died when the Syrian regime used chlorine gas and another nerve agent in Douma last Saturday.    

After ordering military action for the first time since entering No 10, a grim-faced Mrs May used a 9am Downing Street press conference to insist 'limited and targeted' bombing was the 'right thing to do' to stop the use of banned chemical weapons.  

The military action passed off without UK casualties or any of the Russian forces on the ground being hit.  

But there are over a Russian cyber backlash that could see vital services in Britain including water supplies, gas networks, banks, hospitals and air traffic control affected in retaliation for the strikes.