France to step up air strikes against IS in Syria and Iraq

The US-led coalition has been pounding IS targets in Syria for over a year, but France joined the campaign only in September and has concentrated its air strikes on the city of Raqa.

France’s president has said his country will step up its fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, launching a week of diplomacy with a meeting with the British prime minister in Paris.

Writing in Monday’s “Daily Telegraph” newspaper, the prime minister said: “As the murders on the streets of Paris reminded us so starkly, Islamic State is not some remote problem thousands of miles away; it is a direct threat to our security”.

WORCESTER’S MP has revealed he has serious concerns about bombing Syria – saying he “cannot support” airstrikes unless David Cameron convinces him of the benefits. “The rest of the coalition would like to see the RAF engaged in Syria”.

And while he said “that someone should be Syrians, Iraqis or other Arabs” he added: “It would be a mistake for Britain or other western nations to rule out some of our own forces operating there if that can make the crucial difference to the outcome”.

“I will explain how such action would be one element of a comprehensive and long term strategy to defeat Isil in parallel with major worldwide effort to bring an end to the war in Syria”. Hollande said France planned to intensify its air strikes on IS in Syria, with a focus on destroying targets that would cause as much damage as possible. Writing in the SDSR’s foreword, Cameron said over the course of this Parliament “our priorities are to deter state-based threats, tackle terrorism, remain a world leader in cyber security and ensure we have the capability to respond rapidly to crises as they emerge”.

But, breaking with a British political tradition of using a “party whip” to keep party discipline, his finance spokesman said Labour was considering allowing its MPs to vote as they wish, which may increase support for Cameron.

A Times/YouGov opinion poll published last week found that 58 percent of people would approve of Britain joining airstrikes in Syria, compared to 22 percent against.

Labour’s spokeswoman on defence issues, Angela Eagle, told the BBC on Monday that even the party’s leader, Jeremy Corbin – who is known for his anti-war stance in general – may vote in favour.

“I’ll support it, we need to make sure we’ve got our partners on board with us but I think that’ll happen”.

Mr Hague’s call echoes comments by former head of the army Lord Dannatt, who said that Syria would require “effective combat troops” on the ground – though he did not explicitly name the UK.

Mr Walker did side with the Government then, but said he only did so on the understanding it would go back to the Commons for a fresh vote once the details were ironed out. “You can be confident that the diplomatic front is in high gear, with a very real plan on the table to be implemented”, Kerry said.