UPDATE 2 - UK lawmakers denounce US strikes on Venezuela, call on government to condemn it

ADDS REACTIONS BY LEADERS OF LIBERAL DEMOCRATS, GREENS

LONDON (AA) - Several British lawmakers on Saturday decried US strikes on Venezuela, calling on the UK government to condemn what they called an "illegal attack on a sovereign nation."

US President Donald Trump confirmed the strike on his social media platform Truth Social, saying Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been captured and flown out of the country.

Earlier, Venezuela’s government accused the US of attacking civilian and military installations in multiple states, and declared ‌a national ‌emergency.

"Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves — and that’s no coincidence,” Your Party lawmaker Zarah Sultana wrote on US social media company X, following US strikes on the capital, Caracas.

"This is naked U.S. imperialism: an illegal assault on Caracas aimed at overthrowing a sovereign government and plundering its resources," said Sultana, who is a former Labour Party lawmaker.

"(Prime Minister Keir) Starmer’s Labour government must condemn this unequivocally. Solidarity with the Venezuelan people."

Green Party leader Zack Polanski said Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper should be condemning this "illegal strike and breach of international human rights law."

Accusing Trump of "arming a genocide and worshipping the special relationship," he said the US president now believes "he can act with impunity."

Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey also called on the prime minister to condemn "Trump’s illegal action in Venezuela."

Saying that unlawful attacks like this "make us all less safe," Davey claimed Trump is giving a "green light" to the likes of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping "to attack other countries with impunity."

- 'Illegal attack on a sovereign nation'

Independent lawmaker Jeremy Corbyn called the US strikes an "unprovoked and illegal attack" on Venezuela, saying this was a "brazen attempt" to secure control over Venezuelan natural resources.

"It is an act of war that puts the lives of millions of people at risk — and should be condemned by anyone who believes in sovereignty and international law," Corbyn said on X.

Labour Party lawmaker Richard Burgeon said he "totally" condemns what he called an "illegal attack on a sovereign nation."

"As with the war on Iraq, Trump's regime change is about control of Venezuela’s oil - the largest reserves in the world," he said.

Another Labour Party lawmaker, John McDonnell, said the US strikes came "with no legal sanction, with no UN decision, what difference in international law is there between Trump’s attack on Venezuela & Putin’s invasion of Ukraine."

"If the UK government stands for the rule of law, Keir Starmer must condemn this," he wrote on X.

Labour Party lawmaker Nadia Whittome also called US strikes an “illegal attack on a sovereign nation,” saying it is a “blatant grab” for Venezuelan oil, risking the lives of innocent civilians.

“All of us who care about international law must condemn this,” she said on X.