Britain is to step up its fight against ISIS as MPs vote overwhelmingly to back military action in Syria. Today’s lengthy vote in Parliament saw MPs vote by 397 votes to 223 (a majority of 174) in favour of action.
The vote means RAF Tornados armed with state of the art missiles could be unleashed on ISIS targets within 24 hours.
Many Labour MPs were swayed by a breathtaking speech from Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn in favour of military action.
“ISIS hold us in contempt. They hold our values in contempt. They hold our belief in tolerance and decency in contempt. They hold our democracy, the means by which we will make our decision tonight, in contempt. And what we know about fascists is that they need to be defeated. It is now time for us to do our bit in Syria,” he said to sustained applause from both Labour and Tory MPs.
The Prime Minister launched a plea for bombing raids in Iraq to be extended into neighbouring Syria to eradicate the “women-raping, Muslim-murdering, medieval monsters hijacking Islam for their warped ends”.
“These terrorists are plotting to kill us and to radicalise our children right now. 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, or do we sit back and wait for them to attack us?” the PM said.
Having reluctantly granted his MPs a free vote, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told the Commons the case for air strikes “did not stack up.”
His position as Labour leader looks increasingly fragile after dozens of Labour MPs backed the Tory government, after David Cameron warned Britain had to strike at the heart of ISIS or “wait for them to attack us”.
Outside the Houses of Parliament hundreds of people protested against military action, including one woman who lay down under a lorry. She refused to move from under the HGV for about 30 minutes – bringing traffic to a standstill – as protesters marched through Parliament Square.
The protester was eventually dragged out from under the vehicle by police. Scotland Yard said one man was arrested for highway obstruction and being drunk and disorderly following the protest.
