Britain should be part of military action in Syria – Cameron

Prime Minister David Cameron has said it is time to join the air strikes against Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for killing 130 people in Paris earlier this month. “That is not open debate, it is abuse and should have no place in the party”, Mr McCluskey wrote.

He went on: “On certain issues, the ones really above party politics, we have got to have mature politics in our democracy now”. And they are playing with fire.

Unite boss Len McCluskey said the union, a key Labour donor, would “resist all the way” any attempt to force Labour’s leader out. “The result was a very, very clear mandate for me to be leader of the party”.

He has also written to activists asking for their views on military action in Syria – sparking accusations that he is trying to use his grassroots powerbase to “bounce” the shadow cabinet into submission.

Responding, Mr Corbyn said: “What I’ve done is what I said I would always do – try to democratise the way the party does things”.

The Sun has reported that Labour MPs have urged Corbyn to quit as they plan to defy him and vote for British strikes in Syria.

Leading members of the Shadow Cabinet have pleaded with Mr Corbyn to defuse the row by giving them a free vote, but on 29 November he appeared ready to try to whip them into line, saying they should listen to the voices of party members who oppose going to war.

The government wants a Commons vote on the question but Mr Corbyn is opposed to any further military action.

Cameron also attacked former London mayor Ken Livingstone, who yesterday suggested sending Chinese troops to Syria because British forces were “discredited”. “It is and we should do it”, Mr Cameron said before leaving Malta to attend an emergency European Union summit in Brussels on Europe’s migration crisis.

It had been widely expected that Mr Corbyn would make his opposition to military action known but that he would then offer MPs a “free vote” to avoid mass resignations from his shadow cabinet.

Mr Fallon, one of the most vocal backers of airstrikes, will also be on the Marr programme.

But Mr Corbyn said no final decision had yet been made.

“Obviously there are strong views on both directions”.

“All these points will be made in discussions that we will be having with members”, Mr Cameron said.

Asked if the whipping position would be a collective decision by the shadow cabinet, Mr Corbyn said: “It is the leader who decides”. “I think it actually will bring Britain and France and the world together in defence of our values and recognising that we will never let these people beat us, indeed we will come together and make sure that we beat them”.

Shadow Justice Secretary Lord Falconer confirmed there were “significant differences” within the shadow cabinet and said frontbenchers should not be “forced” to resign by the imposition of a whip. “It is no way to run a party”, he said. “I’m enjoying every moment of it”.

But he added: “The question must now be whether extending the United Kingdom bombing from Iraq to Syria is likely to reduce, or increase, that threat and whether it will counter, or spread, the terror campaign Isis is waging in the Middle East”.

And, as Parliamentary pressure mounts over the weekend for a vote in the House next week, up to four senior Labour MPs have backed a call for Mr Corbyn to step down.