It is a tense time for Labour opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn.
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If Corbyn does impose a three-line whip and try to make Labour MPs vote against air strikes, Honeyman predicted that some of his frontbench team could quit.
While that would be deeply embarrassing for Corbyn, it is not clear it would herald the end of his leadership.
In an article for Huffington Post, Mr McCluskey – who endorsed Mr Corbyn’s bid for the leadership but has since criticised his performance – made clear that he thought David Cameron’s plan to extend air strikes from Iraq to Syria was “illegal and irrational”.
Mr Corbyn’s position at the head of Labour has plunged into crisis just three months since his surprise election as leader, with the left-winger yesterday refusing to bow to his MPs’ demands for a free vote on British military action in Syria.
“Frankly, I think the threat of mass resignations has been exaggerated but we will have to see”.
Michael Fallon told BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that “we’ve been talking to Labour MPs all week” but that the government had “not yet” secured enough support to be sure of winning a vote to extend airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Syria.
Labour leaders are set to meet on Monday, where they are set to decide whether it will be a free vote.
Mr Byrne said of the Labour leader: “I don’t think that writing letters that prejudge the outcome, the conclusion of the shadow cabinet position, was a good way of approaching this”.
“Jeremy appoints the shadow cabinet – not the other way round”. I’ll find out what MPs think, obviously there are strong views on both directions, we’ll have a further discussion about this.
Cameron wants to convince lawmakers to back British air strikes against Islamic State in Syria as well as in Iraq where it already supports U.S.-led attacks.
Over 70,000 people are said to have responded to the email consultation, issued last week, which asked members and supporters whether they agreed with strikes on Syria and whether they had any comments.
Corbyn said he would not describe himself as a pacifist but military action should only be used as an absolute last resort.
Asked whether there would be a vote in parliament this week, Fallon said: “We’d like to have a vote for military action but we’ve got to keep building the case”.
“It’s about providing information and answering factual questions that parliamentarians may have”, he said.
“This is not about the internal politics of the Labour Party, this is about the internal security of our country”, he said.
“We want to take the fight to this terrorist organisation”.
“We have always been prepared to defend ourselves and we should do so on this occasion”. Corbyn will emphasise, however, that it is party policy to oppose air strikes, a stance backed by the membership.
“With the Labour Party giving up its whip on a matter of war and peace, it is now the responsibility of the Scottish National Party to take the lead in holding the UK Government to account”, said Mr Robertson.
“They are not there to vote with the Tories”.
“What is the point of having a vote in Parliament, which is all about MPs deciding, if they are then going to be dictated to by text message and told which way they have to vote?”
“Who do these people think they are?” “What do they expect to happen from people after they invade?”
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“There will be resignations among senior members of the shadow cabinet over this”, an unnamed senior shadow cabinet member told the BBC. As more innocent people die from the air strikes, the appeal of Daesh will strengthen. But rather than a free vote or a whipped vote, Corbyn may opt for something in between.
