LONDON — British Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn accused the country's armed forces chief on Sunday of taking sides in the hot button political issue of overhauling Britain's nuclear weapons program.
Gen. Nicholas Houghton earlier on Remembrance Sunday, when Britain commemorates its war dead, said he was "worried" by Corbyn's vow never to press the "nuclear button".
Corbyn issued a statement expressing "serious concern" over Houghton's statement, calling on Defence Secretary Michael Fallon to "take action."
"It is a matter of serious concern that the chief of the defence staff has today intervened directly in issues of political dispute," said Corbyn, who is opposed to a revamp of Britain's nuclear weapons system, Trident.
"It is essential in a democracy that the military remains politically neutral at all times," said the Labour leader.
The pacifist party leader also faced criticism on social media for not bowing deeply enough while laying a wreath during a London service to commemorate Britain's war dead.
The row comes amid debate whether Britain should spend billions of pounds renewing its aging nuclear submarine fleet, which Corbyn has questioned.
Houghton told the BBC that having a prime minister who ruled out the use of nuclear weapons would "seriously undermine" Britain's "deterrent."
"It would worry me if that thought was translated into power," he said.
"When people say you're never going to use the deterrent, what I say is you use the deterrent every second of every minute of every day and the purpose of the deterrent is that you don't have to use it because you successfully deter.
"Most of the politicians I know understand that," he added.
Bow Row
Corbyn said that by "publicly taking sides in current political arguments, Sir Nicholas Houghton has clearly breached that constitutional principle" that the military should stay out of party politics.
"Accordingly, I am writing to the defence secretary to ask him to take action to ensure that the neutrality of the armed forces is upheld," Corbyn added.
The veteran anti-war campaigner has previously come under fire for not singing the national anthem and speculation was rife before Sunday's service at London's Cenotaph memorial about whether he would wear a ceremonial poppy — the flower that has come to represent Britain's fallen soldiers since World War I.
The 66-year-old did wear a poppy and also sang the national anthem, but stirred the ire of some on social media after appearing to nod rather than bow while presenting his wreath.
"Corbyn's bow at the Cenotaph was virtually nonexistent, more of a twitch, obviously a deliberate snub," said Twitter user GrenvilleWilson.
"If Corbyn could have made his 'bow' (barely even a nod, in truth) any smaller towards the cenotaph, his head would have gone backwards," added fellow tweeter Jon Preston.
Defenders accused critics of exploiting the event for political ends.
"Corbyn not doing a massive bow isn't disgusting. The media using #RemembranceSunday as an excuse to attack him is disgusting," wrote user TheSpeedBump.
The Queen led millions of Britons as they fell silent to honor members of the Commonwealth's armed forces killed in conflict at the annual service.
