But Labour was left looking deeply split on the issue after its left-wing leader Jeremy Corbyn confirmed he would vote against air strikes, while a string of other centrist MPs said they would support them.
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Prime Minister David Cameron, who stepped up pressure for air strikes after last month’s Paris attacks, will lead the House of Commons into more than 10 hours of debate on joining the US-led action.
Former Labour minister Caroline Flint was the first to call on Mr Cameron to apologise for his remarks, backed up by Labour’s John Woodcock who told him it would be “helpful” to “retract his inappropriate comment”.
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”.
However, Mr Hammond dismissed the suggestion and told Sky News although he was not in the room when Mr Cameron made the comments he “imagined he had in his mind some very serious comments” made recently by senior Labour politicians.
“The question is this: do we work with our allies to degrade and destroy this threat and do we go after these terrorists in their heartlands, from where they are plotting to kill British people”.
“There’s no hiding place behind a whipping arrangement or not, your decision on behalf of your constituents whether or not we should commit British troops into yet another war in the Middle East with no end game in sight, no proper plan in sight”. This is not about whether we want to fight terrorism, it’s about how best we do that.
But the DUP has said its eight MPs will support airstrikes and Lib Dem leader Tim Farron has said action is justified as part of “a measured, legal and broad-based global effort”.
A YouGov opinion poll showed voter support for military action in Syria had fallen to the lowest level since September 2014, with 48 percent of respondents supporting strikes and 31 percent opposing.
On Tuesday evening, the prime minister urged Tory MPs not to “sit on their hands” and to take a stand on fighting terror.
Cameron asked his Conservative MPs to vote for airstrikes because the United Kingdom wanted to send the message that it is standing alongside its allies already engaged in military action against ISIS.
But up to 50 Labour MPs – including shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn – are expected to back strikes despite a furious backlash from anti-war campaigners and opposition from leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Britain’s parliament will decide today whether it will launch a bombing campaign against ISIS in Syria.
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The result of the vote is expected after 10pm on Wednesday. “We need to have respect for each other’s views on this”.
