In this image taken from the Parliamentary Recording Unit via AP Britain’s Prime Minister, David Cameron addresses lawmakers in the House of Commons, London, making his case for airstrikes as part of a “comprehensive overall strategy” to destroy IS and end the Syrian war, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2015.
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Britain has been striking Daesh targets in Iraq from air for more than a year, but Cameron has long wanted to broaden the mission to include the northern Syrian city of Raqqa.
Cameron renewed his calls to expand Britain’s aerial campaign against the Islamic State jihadist group from Iraq to Syria, setting out the case in a written statement and a almost three-hour parliament session on Thursday.
It will leave British citizens and our homeland more exposed, more vulnerable, and it will significantly damage Britain’s reputation as a reliable ally and partner in the world, Hammond said.
I do not believe that the Prime Minister made a convincing case that British air strikes on Syria would strengthen our national security or reduce the threat from ISIS. Crispin Blunt said: “It is now my personal view that, on balance, the country would be best served by this house supporting his judgments that the United Kingdom should play a full role in the coalition, to best support and shape the politics, thus enabling the earliest military and eventual ideological defeat of Isil”.
While allies of Mr Corbyn appealed for calm within the Labour ranks, critics on the backbenches openly voiced their contempt for his “weak” leadership and urged him to step down.
“It’s absolutely right for him to put that view in the shadow cabinet”.
And one outspoken Labour MP, West Midlands MP John Spellar, has suggested that Mr Corbyn might have to resign instead.
Writing to Labour party members last night, Mr Corbyn said: “We have all been horrified by the despicable attacks in Paris and are determined to see ISIS defeated”.
And former Home Office minister Fiona McTaggart, when asked if Mr Corbyn should stand down, told BBC local radio: “If he chose to do that I think it would be a sensible thing”.
The divisions in the Labour ranks complicate Mr Cameron’s calculations as to whether he has got the numbers to win a Commons vote on extending air strikes against IS – now restricted to Iraq – into Syria.
Along with Mr Corbyn and other senior figures in the party, Mr Benn is a member of Labour’s Shadow Cabinet.
Corbyn has also faced opposition among his own ranks after he hinted he would not give Labour MPs a free vote on the issue.
Two months after far-left lawmaker Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader, Labour is deeply split on foreign and security policy, curbing its ability to keep the ruling Conservatives in check. “I think it [his leadership] probably is unsustainable”.
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However, shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn said Mr Cameron had set out “compelling arguments” for Britain to join other nations in extending airstrikes against IS into Syria.
