Protest planned in London as Syria air strikes vote looms

Jeremy Corbyn is facing intense pressure to give Labour MPs a free vote on air strikes in Syria, with his shadow cabinet openly split on whether to back David Cameron’s call for military action.

“I believe and I hope under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, Labour MPs in Parliament will do the right thing”.

He also said there “shouldn’t be any party discipline on issues like this”. “You should follow your own judgment on what you think is best for the constituency and the country”.

But, after Islamic State claimed responsibility for killing 130 people in Paris, some members of parliament who were reluctant to launch further military action in the Middle East now feel it is needed to protect Britain from such attacks. In it, he explained the reasons why he could not support further military action; a “convincing case” had not been made.

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

Deputy leader Tom Watson became the latest leading figure to speak out in support of bombing Islamic State (IS) in its Syrian heartland – putting him directly at odds with the party leader.

Labour backbencher John Woodcock has warned it had been a bad week for Labour and the party must now “set that right”.

“We are not commenting on speculation”.

Another Labour MP John Spellar, a member of the defence select committee, said Mr Corbyn’s behaviour had been “unacceptable”. “You can not have a shadow cabinet voting down the leader of the Labour Party who has just been elected with the biggest mandate in history”.

“We need to bring the full force of our political and diplomatic strategy and the vital reconstruction work that we would do after the war in Syria is over”.

But Hilary Benn, who is emerging as the figurehead for Labour MPs who are inclined to back the government’s proposals, told the Today programme that a free vote “may be where we end up”.

Exact numbers at the protest – organized by the Stop the War Coalition movement – had yet to be determined, with the Associated Press reporting that “hundreds” had taken part in the demonstrations, while the AFP news agency put the number at roughly 4,000.

Its chairman Andrew Murray urged demonstrators to “stand behind” Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the main opposition Labour party and a former Stop the War Coalition chairman, in opposing air strikes.

“This is a conflict that can not and will not be solved by bombing”, Mr Murray told the crowd. “I don’t think this is a country that lets others like the French or the Americans defend our interests and protect us from terrorist organizations – we should contribute to that effort”.

In London, actor Mark Rylance and musician Brian Eno will also be handing a letter in to Downing Street urging Cameron not to join the worldwide air strikes. “We’re ready to speak to MPs and try to answer questions they have”. The U.K.is already bombing the Islamic State in Iraq.