British parliament set to vote for Syria air strikes

They returned to base safely several hours later.

The Ministry of Defence said the first four British jets – supported by a Voyager air refuelling tanker, an unmanned Reaper drone (usually operated from RAF Waddington) and other coalition aircraft – had attacked six targets.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon claimed on Thursday that RAF bombing raids against IS in Syria have dealt “a real blow” to the financing of the terror group.

Lavrov did however welcome Britain joining air strikes in Syria, saying more universal efforts against Islamic State would be more effective.

The mission to target so-called Islamic State militants in Syria could take “some time” and will require persistence, he added.

The RAF has been launching strikes against IS targets in Iraq since 2014. The regime are not hitting Isis, and the Russians as well – just 6% of the air strikes hit Isis.

Sgt. Mauricio Campino, US Marine CorpsArmed with an L85A2 rifle, a British Army soldier from the 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, kneels while demonstrating a vehicle check point system at landing strip Viper, in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.

The election of veteran anti-war campaigner Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader in September complicated his plans.

“I did not object when the right-wing of my constituency back in 1990 ran candidates to try and deselect me I believed they had the right to do it. This is politics. It is complex, it is hard what we are asking our pilots to do”, Cameron said in a televised statement.

After more than 10 hours of tense debate, British lawmakers voted in favour of the air strikes, by 397 to 223.

“These women-raping, Muslim-murdering, medieval monsters, they are hijacking the peaceful religion of Islam for their warped ends”, Cameron said in his plea for parliamentary support on Wednesday morning.

Given Britain’s diminished role on the world stage, the victory hands Cameron the chance to restore Britain’s standing in global affairs.

As opinion shifted in the weeks following the attacks on Paris on November 13, he became increasingly confident, eventually calling the vote on Sunday.

The shadow chancellor – who has said Mr Blair should be tried for war crimes – warned “the greatest oratory can lead us to the greatest mistakes” in the aftermath of last night’s vote by MPs.

In the end we know that it is the Vienna process, that it is the process which is to replace the Assad regime – which is dropping barrel bombs on so many innocent people across Syria – which is crucial for preventing the recruitment of Isil as well.

Mr Burnham responded: “I think that’s a disgraceful thing to say on a day like today, because we had a free vote in Parliament – there wasn’t a party line”.