U.K. Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn on Tuesday gave the green light to party members to avoid voting in favor of the United Kingdom's official designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist group.
On Monday, British Home Secretary Sajid Javid outlawed membership in Hezbollah or support for the terrorist group.
"Hezbollah is continuing in its attempts to destabilize the fragile situation in the Middle East and we are no longer able to distinguish between their already banned military wing and the political party," Javid said. "Because of this, I have taken the decision to proscribe the group in its entirety."
Labour said in a statement on Tuesday that Javid had to provide evidence to justify his decision to widen the ban on the terrorist group.
"The home secretary must therefore now demonstrate that this decision was taken in an objective and impartial way and driven by clear and new evidence, not by his leadership ambitions," a Labour spokesman said.
Asked about the comments, Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said it was for Labour to explain their decision.
"Hezbollah itself has publicly denied a distinction between its military and political wings. The group in its entirety is assessed to be concerned in terrorism," he added.
"The links between the senior leaders of Hezbollah's political and military wings as well as the group's destabilizing role in the region mean that the distinction between the two wings is now untenable," the spokesman added.
Corbyn has called members of Hezbollah his "friends."
