First British Air Strikes in Syria Target IS-Held Oil Fields

Mr Cameron said that he welcomed the strong support across Parliament with MPs from six different parties backing “this necessary action”.

They 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. But what we know about fascists, is that they need to be defeated. “This is going to take time”. “It is complex, it is hard what we are asking our pilots to do, and our thoughts should be with them and their families”, David Cameron said.

They “did not stack up”, he said, adding that Mr. Cameron had failed to convince that there were “credible ground forces” able to take back IS territory under cover of British air strikes.

Akrotiri has been used as a launchpad for attacks on IS targets in Iraq for just over a year.

A Number 10 spokeswoman said: “The 70,000 figure was produced by the Joint Intelligence Committee, which includes in its membership officials from the Ministry of Defence”.

“All four Tornados have now successfully returned and we will be assessing later this morning the actual damage done”.

The party’s foreign affairs spokesman Alex Salmond added that air strikes would make no real difference in the balance of the war against IS, also known as Daesh.

The oilfield is one of the largest and most important for ISIS financial operations, representing over 10 per cent of their potential income, according to the MoD. Which is why the Prime Minister’s attempt to brand those who plan to vote against the government as terrorist sympathizers, both demeans the office of the Prime Minister and, I believe, undermines the seriousness of deliberations we’re having today.

“The RAF Tornado and Reaper aircraft that have been conducting air strikes against Daesh (a derogatory Arabic term for ISIS) have now been reinforced by a detachment of Typhoon fighters, which carry the same Paveway IV precision guided bombs as the Tornados”.

But he was forced to fend off calls to apologize, including from opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, after reportedly telling fellow Conservative MPs at a private meeting not to vote with “a bunch of terrorist sympathizers” against the strikes.

U.S. President Barack Obama praised the move of Britain and claimed that the coalition would surely work “to integrate them into our coalition air tasking orders as quickly as possible”.

Speaking after the vote, Mr Robertson said: “Scotland has been dragged into a war with no exit strategy”.

An impromptu Economist poll published Thursday shows that of those surveyed, 47 percent are against the air strikes, 42percent are in favor and 11 percent are undecided.

The addition is the latest effort to boost US military pressure against Islamic State while also exposing American forces to greater risk.