Britain yet to garner parliament support for Syria action says Minister
Prime Minister David Cameron says Parliament will hold a debate Wednesday on whether Britain should launch airstrikes against militants in Syria.
Even in the Prime Minister’s absence, all senior Labour MPs who are also members of the Privy Council have been invited to a confidential No 10 briefing tomorrow on the strategy.
Shadow worldwide development secretary Diane Abbott, a close colleague of Mr Corbyn on the Labour left, said the final decision was for the leader but insisted “public opinion is moving towards us in opposing the rush to war”.
Unveiling his review of defence spending in the Commons on Monday, Cameron said: “On Thursday I will come to this House and make a further statement responding personally to the foreign affairs committee”.
Mr Murray said the case falls down because of a lack of capacity in the Free Syrian Army, uncertainty over the position of Russian Federation and what to do with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and the opposition from the people of Raqqa.
Labour leader Corbyn wants his lawmakers to vote against air strikes.
Just minutes before the crunch Shadow Cabinet meeting about the Labour stance on air strikes in Syria, the party has released figures showing an overwhelming majority oppose United Kingdom bombing in Syria.
“He hasn’t given any indication of the decision on the process but his decision is not to bomb and I think that is the position of it looks like the majority of our party members and quite a few Conservative MPs now”.
He said: “The problem that I think Jeremy has got, the problem that the leader of the opposition has, is that he has never abided by the discipline of the leader or of the shadow cabinet”.
“My view about the membership of the Labour Party is that they must have a voice”, he said.
A party source said: “The role of the NEC is to get the Labour Party match fit to win elections”.
Former shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna told Sky News at the weekend he would defy Mr Corbyn if MPs are ordered to oppose military action.
Labour is deeply divided over whether to back Cameron.
In a letter last week to members of the shadow cabinet and subsequently to ordinary members of the Labour Party – amongst whom his support ratings have been steadily rising – Corbyn put forth his arguments on why he opposes intervention.
“I don’t think the case has been made because I don’t think the bombing of Syria will make any difference to the position of Isil/Daesh. We have to start acting now to keep our country, our people and indeed others in Europe safe”, he added.
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”. John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, is in favour of a free vote across all parties as a matter of conscience.
“If those Westminster bubble-dwellers who hanker back to the politics of the past can not show the elected leader – and those who voted for him – more respect, then they are writing their own political obituaries”.