MPs have overwhelmingly ratified a motion by David Cameron to place Britain side-by-side with the U.S. and France in launching air strikes against the Islamic State in Iraq.
The Commons motion was passed by a vote of 524 to 43 meaning that Britain could send RAF planes to the region of northern Iraq – where jihadist militants have acquired great swathes of land – as early as the weekend.
Though Britain’s military action will thus far be limited to Iraq, following a request by the Iraqi government, Prime Minister David Cameron has signalled that he is prepared to extend the area to include Syria.
Mr Cameron told an emergency Commons debate today: “There isn’t a walk-on-by option, there isn’t an option hoping it will go away.
In his speech he added that Isis fighters are “psychopathic terrorists who want to kill us”.
“This is not a threat on the far side of the world. Left unchecked, we will face a terrorist caliphate on the shores of the Mediterranean, bordering a Nato member [Turkey], with a declared and proven determination to attack our country and our people.
“This is not the stuff of fantasy - it is happening in front of us and we need to face up to it.”
Sir Edward Leigh, Tory MP for Gainsborough, said he supported the strikes despite having apprehensions that Britain’s armed forces will not be able to make much noise in the region following swingeing cuts to defence budgets.
Echoing Winston Churchill’s famous quote, he said: “Never have so few been asked by so many to achieve so much with no clear aim in sight.
“If you want to act with a big stick in the world, you must wield the means and what have we been doing to the armed forces over the last four years, and how many planes have we got to bomb [Isis]? What serious difference will we make?
“In our zealous liberalism we have encouraged revolutions across the Middle East and then been profoundly shocked when the forces we have helped unleash have turned against us.
“In that sense the British Government is indirectly culpable in fostering the conditions for a jihadism to thrive in Iraq and Syria,” adding that Britain should apologise to the civilians affected by the turmoil.
He added there is no “legal barrier” for the UK to join U.S. and Arab-led strikes against the Islamic State (also known as Isis) in Syria, as opposition leader Ed Miliband voiced concerns that the UK would need to establish a legal framework to do so.
While supporting the strikes in Iraq, Mr Miliband said in today’s debate that more “work needs to be done” to determine the consequences of intervening in Syria.
“The point I have been making in the last few days is, in my view, when we are not talking about being invited in by a democratic state it would be better - I put it no higher than that - it would be better to seek a UN Security Council resolution,” Mr Miliband, who voted against strikes on Syria President Bashar al-Assad’s regime last year, said.
"Why? This is the highest multilateral institution in the world and therefore it would be better to seek authorisation.”
Mr Miliband’s sentiments were criticised by some corners of parliament, including Sir Menzies Campbell, Lib Dem MP for North East Fife, who said a UN resolution would be “wholly pointless exercise because of the attitude undoubtedly to be taken by Russia and possibly also by China”.
Liam Fox, Tory MP for North Somerset and a former Defence Secretary, said it was a “mistake” not to include Syria into the motion today.
“There is a clear legal case to attack Isil bases in Syria and I'm afraid sooner or later we are going to have to do it. It would be far better if we had said so explicitly today.”
