JEREMY Corbyn has signalled that a future Labour government might not renew the Trident nuclear deterrent as he denounced Theresa May for pandering to Donald Trump.

Stressing how his emphasis would be on peace and diplomacy, the Labour leader said he would appoint a Minister for Peace and undertake an immediate review of RAF bombing raids in Syria and Iraq if he gained power.

Speaking at the Chatham House international affairs think-tank in London, Mr Corbyn claimed what was needed was “fresh thinking” on foreign policy, decrying a “bomb first, talk later” approach and claiming the West’s “war on terror” had failed.

In remarks that could lead some to think the UK-US Special Relationship might be at risk under a Corbyn premiership, he said: “Britain deserves better than simply outsourcing our country’s security and prosperity to the whims of the Trump White House. So no more hand-holding with Donald Trump. A Labour Government will conduct a robust and independent foreign policy.”

In response, Boris Johnson, on the stump in Wales, said Mr Corbyn was "a guy who has campaigned all his life to weaken the UK's defences".

The Foreign Secretary added the Labour leader would “simply chuck away our ability to defend ourselves; that is crazy...”.

But answering the Conservative charge that he was a pacifist, Mr Corbyn insisted he was not. "I accept that military action, under international law and as a genuine last resort, is in some circumstances necessary.

"But that is very far from the kind of unilateral wars and interventions that have almost become routine in recent times."

Senior members of Mr Corbyn's frontline team were present for the speech, including Emily Thornberry, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, and Baroness Chakrabarti, the Shadow Attorney General.

However, Nia Griffith, the Shadow Defence Secretary, whose support for the Trident nuclear deterrent is at odds with her leader, was notably absent from the event. Sources said Labour’s candidate for Llanelli had a prior campaigning commitment in Wales.

On Trident, Mr Corbyn said: “I am often asked if as Prime Minister I would order the use of nuclear weapons. It’s an extraordinary question when you think about it; would you order the indiscriminate killing of millions of people?”

The party leader, a former Chairman of the Stop the War coalition, opposes the renewal of Trident as does the Scottish Labour Party.

After his speech, Mr Corbyn was asked whether or not he backed a like-for-like replacement of the four Trident submarines.

He replied: "The decision of Parliament was to endorse the Government's proposal for the replacement of Trident, that is the decision we will inherit as a Labour government and that is what the position is.

"We will also undertake a strategic defence review as all incoming governments do, looking at all aspects of our defence priorities for the future. But we cannot obviously decide what the review would decide, otherwise we wouldn't have a review."

However, a senior party source was later forced to clarify Labour’s position, saying the review would cover “all aspects of our defence capabilities in order to respond to all 21st century security threats,” adding: “Renewal of Trident is not in question."

Speaking on the campaign trail in Inverness, Nicola Sturgeon said: "Jeremy Corbyn should have the courage of his convictions on nuclear weapons.

"What we need is a sensible defence policy. We see defence policy sucking in billions of pounds on Trident at a time when our conventional defence forces see cut after cut.

"I want to see Trident scrapped not renewed, so we can have investment in our conventional forces," added the SNP leader.

In other developments:

*Harry Fletcher, a former member of Mr Corbyn’s leadership team told BBC 5 live the party leader might stay on after defeat “unless it was a total disaster. Let's say it's down below 20 per cent…”; Ed Miliband got 30 per cent while Labour’s worst post-war performance was 27.6 per cent in 1983;

*Andy McDonald, the Shadow Transport Secretary, suggested the party’s plan to renationalise the railways could take at least two parliaments ie 10 years;

*Barry Gardiner, the Shadow Trade Secretary, accused the BBC of “trivialising” the defence debate after a clash on BBC Radio’s Today programme and

*Mr Corbyn will today on the stump in Norwich commit Labour to enshrining in law the "triple lock" commitment to raise state pensions by at least 2.5 per cent every year.