But since 130 were killed in Islamic State attacks in Paris on November 13, some lawmakers hitherto loath to launch further air strikes on militants in Syria now agree with Cameron that they are needed to protect Britain from such violence.
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The vote comes after US Secretary of State John Kerry urged North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies to intensify the fight against the Islamic State group, at a meeting of the alliance in Brussels.
Democratic Unionists and the Liberal Democrats are also backing air strikes, their eight MPs each outweighing the voices of around a dozen Conservatives preparing to defy the party line to oppose action.
Cameron, meanwhile, has said that people who vote against the military action are a “bunch of terrorist sympathisers”.
In a crunch House of Commons ballot tonight, MPs will decide whether to support extending British air raids to the country from Iraq.
Hull North MP Diana Johnson revealed she had received an email saying those who voted in favour of the government’s plan would face lobbying to secure a vote of no confidence six months on from today.
Britain is already part of a U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS from the air, but has until now limited strikes to targets in Iraq.
“Cameron has a neutral rating among the general public with 47% saying he is doing well and 47% saying he is doing badly, and our most recent voting intention figures have the Conservatives on 41% to Labour’s 30%”, said YouGov.
Mr McDonald also backs his leader, Jeremy Corbyn, but this time in opposing expanding military action into Syria.
Underscoring divisions over the move, parliament’s foreign affairs committee on Tuesday said Cameron had “not adequately addressed” its concerns on Syria air strikes.
He said: “There is agreement across this House that the threat from Daesh is real and doing nothing is not an option”.
“Isis poses a very direct threat to the United Kingdom – and as we have already seen in Iraq, British airstrikes can play a key role in degrading them; but they are only part of a comprehensive strategy for Syria”, Cameron told the Tory MPs. Our starting point is to avoid civilian casualties altogether.
Some members of the opposition Labour Party, including Jeremy Corbyn, its leader, are against Britain’s new role in Syria.
Drawing on that experience, Cameron made it clear he would not bring a vote to parliament if he did not think he could win it.
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Mr McDonald said he agreed that ISIS “must be defeated militarily”, but he added: “I do not believe the plans put forward by the Prime Minister will prove effective and at the same time will inevitably increase the risk of terrorist attacks here at home”.
