Jeremy Corbyn warns Europe is heading down a '1930s-style' path as leaders prioritise arms over peace

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In an exclusive interview with LBC, the former Labour leader and Independent MP for Islington North criticised calls for increased defence spending, following a week of political turmoil for Sir Keir Starmer.

Instead, Mr Corbyn urged governments to focus their efforts on tackling poverty, housing and diplomacy, pointing to the rough sleepers and food bank users he encountered on his walk to the office.

He told Simon Marks, "When I was coming over to my office, I walked past the very large weekly food bank that's held not far away from my office”.

"I also met a number of people that were sleeping. And I met a number of people around the station begging.

He said the sight is “normal” in London and other major cities today.

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He went on: "Youth unemployment up 5%, housing needs absolutely desperate, and then Kemi Badenoch gets up in Parliament Wednesday and says we're spending too much on welfare, we need to spend more on warfare."

"The former Labour leader stressed that he does not support Russia's invasion of Ukraine, while questioning whether Western governments were doing enough to secure peace.

"I'm not unaware of what Russia has done in Ukraine, and I do not support Russia in Ukraine, but I want to see an end to that war because this war is being used as a motor to increase arms expenditure all across Europe," he said.

"The consequences in every country are the same. Cuts in health, cuts in education, cuts in housing, rising poverty, and rising unemployment."

Mr Corbyn argued that, as in Russia, the UK’s military spending now requires ordinary people to ultimately bear the cost.

"Exactly the same agenda is being followed in Russia and other countries, who are spending more on arms and less on the needs of their people," he said.

The Independent MP hit out at Donald Trump's increasingly isolationist foreign policy, which he said is “threatening the rest of the world to gain its natural resources."

In a time of increasing political uncertainty, Mr Corbyn emphasised the importance of prioritising investing in bodies which ensure international cooperation.

"My question is, where's the investment in peace? Where's the investment in the UN? Where's the investment in overseas aid? Where's the investment in anti-poverty strategies in our own countries?" he said.

Likening the climate to the pre-war conditions of the 20th century, Mr Corbyn added: "If you look at the history of Europe, pre-First World War, there was a long buildup of an arms race which culminated in the massacres of the Western Front.

“Pre-'20s and '30s, there was exactly the same kind of thing."

Instead, he argued that governments needed to be focusing on mitigating “environmental disaster, human inequality, and increasing levels of poverty amongst the very poorest."

He called for greater funding for United Nations agencies, such as the World Food Programme, and accused some “defence experts” of being “bought and paid for by the arms industry”.

"What they are coming from is those companies that will be making a great deal of money out of this increased expenditure."

His comments come after a week of political upheaval for the prime minister, in which two core ministers stepped down: armed forces minister Al Carns and defence minister John Healey.