Jeremy Corbyn WON’T back bombing Syria he tells Labour MPs – and shadow

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn asked whether air strikes would make any military difference.

If the parliament supports Cameron’s proposal to launch airstrikes on the militants’ positions in Syria, the bombing may start within hours after the decision is made, according to media reports.

During Merkel’s visit in Paris on Wednesday, French President Francois Hollande had said it would “be a very good signal in the fight against terrorism” if Germany could do more against IS in Syria and Iraq.

The PM told MPs “there is a credible military strategy to defeat ISIL in Syria as well as Iraq”.

Cameron said air strikes will not increase the danger of attack in Britain, already considered high. “And stopping them means taking action in Syria”, he said. “The longer ISIL is allowed to grow in Syria, the greater the threat it will pose”, he said in a written response that he had published before his speech, using another word for ISIS.

Mr Cameron said seven attacks over the past year had been linked to IS or inspired by its propaganda.

“We must come together to cut out the cancer of radical Islamism which brought carnage onto the streets of Paris and I believe will no doubt attempt to repeat the same evil on the streets of another European city sometime soon”.

He said: “Just as actions have consequences, so too does inaction – for Syria, the region and our own country”.

He said: “We can not remain neutral in this battle of ideas – we have to back those who share our values with practical help and political representation”.

A vote could take place as early as next week.

The Prime Minister indicated that any Commons motion on extending the bombing campaign to Syria would explicitly recognise that “military action is not the whole answer”.

“We know they want reassurance that we are getting this right … first of all we are a target from this terrorist organisation ISIL (Islamic State)”, he told BBC radio, referring to the attacks on tourists in Tunisia in June.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was unconvinced by the case for Syrian air strikes.

Mr Cameron said he believed the presence of Western boots on the ground in Syria would be “counter-productive” and assured him: “We are not going to deploy British combat forces”.

Isis, alternatively known as Daesh, a term the group dislikes, is also part of the toxic mix, with jihadist groups fighting government forces in both Syria and Iraq.

British forces were involved in a protracted campaign in Iraq and have only recently withdrawn from Afghanistan after a 13-year involvement in conflict there.

A further 130 people were killed during this month’s Paris attacks as well as 228 passengers and crew who died on a downed Russian holiday jet flying back from Sharm el-Sheikh.

Diane Abbott – one of Mr Corbyn’s few allies in the shadow cabinet – said Labour MPs who backed David Cameron over air strikes would put themselves at odds with grassroots party members.

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”.