In December 2016, the newspaper was criticised by Labour MPs led by John Woodcock ("one of the fiercest critics of British government inaction over aid to the region", according to "The Huffington Post") for its description of the imminent fall of Aleppo to Syrian government forces in a front-page headline as a "liberation". Labour MP Tom Blenkinsop tweeted: "Hard left joining with far right in welcoming dictators "liberating" Aleppo. Absolute disgrace". Other Labour MPs joining in the criticism were Stephen Doughty, Angela Smith, Ian Austin, Mike Gapes, Jess Phillips, Toby Perkins and Wes Streeting. Conservative MP George Osborne and "Guardian" writer Owen Jones also attacked the paper's headline. However, the paper rejected the criticism, stating that "from a purely technical point of view, when a sovereign government reclaims territory previously held by enemy forces, that’s called "liberation" whether we like the outcome or not". Stop the War Coalition convener Lindsey German, and political commentator Peter Oborne defended the "Star" reporting of the issue, and questioned the dominant media narrative, respectively. Jeremy Corbyn said he "disagreed" with the headline, emphasising that he always advocated a ceasefire and "a political settlement in Syria". However, he refused to say he would never buy or read the paper again, saying; "Listen, I buy lots of newspapers. I frequently disagree profoundly with headlines, even in "The Guardian", the "Telegraph", the "Mail", and so on. Does it mean I won’t buy them, or read them? Of course not."