VENEZUELA solidarity activists joined forces with unions at a rally outside Downing Street to tell the Prime Minster: stop acting like a “vassal state” to the US.

More than 2,000 people attended the peace demonstration, according to organisers the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign (VSC), Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Stop the War.

Chants of “Keir Starmer where’s your spine? Occupation is a crime!” boomed through the streets of Westminster, where nearby lawmakers debated the British response to the US military action.

Rail union RMT general secretary Ed Dempsey said: ”The Prime Minister and political class in this country cannot muster the courage to even stand up for international law.

“It is shameful. So we’re here to send a message to Downing Street: [the UK] is acting like a vassal state, too frightened to speak up in the face of gross violations of international norms.

“Call out America for its crimes. It’s them today, it could be us tomorrow.”

A TUC representative said: “The trade union movement must become a central pillar in building a stronger anti-imperialist force here in the UK. Every single one of us must be dedicating our efforts to strengthen and build our movement here in the UK.”

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told the crowd: ”I want to live, like you, in a world of peace. I want to live in a world where one country doesn’t invade another to steal its resources.”

Leeds East MP Richard Burgon told the protest: “The Prime Minister’s statement was shameful. [It] was reckless. He abandoned international law to appease Donald Trump.”

A section of the crowd then started a chant, calling on Mr Burgon to “leave the Labour Party.”

VSC’s Francisco Dominguez said: “For the first time ever, the United States actions are not disguised. Their interventionism, brutality, colonialism, and imperialism, is not disguised with talk of democracy, human rights, and everything else that they used to do.”

Jewish Network for Palestine chair Dave Cannon told the Star: “I think it’s very important that people begin to link up the different struggles that are going on. They’re all linked by colonialism. Venezuela is about colonialism, Ukraine is about colonialism, and so is Gaza.”

Activist Miriam Amancay Colque said: “[Latin America] is no longer USA’s backyard. They are mistaken if they think we’re going to put up with their continuous aggression.”