British Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday he would call a one-day debate and vote in the House of Commons on Wednesday over airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria, British media reported Monday.
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“By refusing a full two-day debate, David Cameron is demonstrating he knows the debate is running away from him, and that the case he made last week is falling apart, ” a spokesperson for Corbyn said.
The decision by the Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to allow Labour members of parliament a free vote on the matter cleared the way for Mr. Cameron, who with the nearly certain backing of a sizeable section of the Labour Party, now appears confident of getting the consensus he seeks.
Corbyn is giving “a free vote” on Syria, knowing full well that many of his party’s MPs will vote the other way than he is recommending.
An “emergency protest” is due to be held at Parliament Square this evening in a last attempt to persuade MP’s to vote against Syrian air strikes.
Ahead of the one-day House of Commons debate on where the United Kingdom should its allies in bombing the so-called Islamic State in Syria, defence secretary Michael Fallon has warned that IS is “a very real threat to us here in Britain”.
A motion approved by Cabinet ministers proposes “military action, specifically airstrikes, exclusively against ISIL in Syria”, using another acronym for the group.
“That motion talks about, yes, the necessity of taking military action against ISIS in Syria as well as Iraq, but it is part of a broader strategy”, the PM said.
It’s expected that 100 Labour MP’s will support the proposed intervention, with around 132 following Corbyn’s “No” vote.
The question of airstrikes has divided lawmakers.
Cameron has wanted Britain to extend its operations against IS jihadists in Iraq to Syria for months but held back because he would not have been able to gain support from parliament due to Labour opposition.
He also claimed that ministers would be banned from speaking publicly in support of Mr Cameron’s plans, even if they intending to vote with the Government.
While many in Labour fear more air strikes will bring more instability to the Middle East, some of the party’s leading members have said they are necessary to ensure Britain’s security.
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A Number 10 spokesman said earlier on Monday that discussions were under way within Government on the wording of a draft motion, covering not only military action but also counter-extremism, the diplomatic and political process and humanitarian efforts. In particular, there is great scepticism over the figure of 70,000 anti-IS ground troops that Mr. Cameron claims will back up airstrikes on the ground.
