Several Labour MPs against a “party whip” on Syria vote

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

While British forces are taking part in air strikes on IS targets in Iraq, they are not involved in the US-led coalition targeting Syria due to resistance from opposition parties still mindful of previous unpopular interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Despite the confusion within the Labour ranks, Mr Hammond indicated he was encouraged by the initial response to Mr Cameron’s statement with a number of Tory MPs who had previously been critical falling in behind the Government.

Mr Hollande, who was speaking at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta, said the Paris attacks showed “man is the worst enemy of man”. Finance minister George Osborne, a frontrunner to succeed Cameron, said he understood people’s concerns that further involvement in the Middle East could make Britain a target.

The opinion piece in the Guardian newspaper was published after Prime Minister David Cameron urged parliament on Thursday to back British air strikes against Islamic State in Syria.

He said he had no reason to doubt the Prime Minister’s figure of a guaranteed 70,000 allied troops within the Free Syrian Army and Syrian Kurdish forces that would work on the ground if Britain started bombing. This will come two years after a previous vote for military action in Syria failed when the main opposition Labour Party voted against it. Mr Cameron has stepped up pressure on MPs to vote for strikes after ISIS claimed responsibility for the Nov 13 attacks in Paris, which killed 130 people.

“I do not believe that the PM today made a convincing case that extending United Kingdom bombing to Syria would meet that crucial test. Nor did it satisfactorily answer the questions raised by us and the Foreign Affairs Committee”.

It appears some senior members of the Labour Party were offended by the letter, as they argue the letter should not have been sent before an agreement was reached among Labour’s “shadow cabinet” – those chosen by the party leader to hold their counterparts in the ruling party to account.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has written to his MPs saying he can not back air strikes against Islamic State in Syria.

Fiona McTaggart, MP for Slough, said Mr Corbyn’s leadership had been “weak”.

Labour is divided on whether to support Mr Cameron’s call for air strikes, with about half of the shadow cabinet believed to back intervention.

Progress-backed former minister Fiona McTaggart said Mr Corbyn should resign because “the division at the moment is causing real problems”.

Mr Spellar condemned his party leader’s behaviour in an interview with Radio 5 Live.

“They thought they were going away to resume that discussion on Monday”. “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”, she said.

Cameron said he would not call a vote in the Commons on airstrikes in Syria until he was sure there was a clear majority in favour of action as defeat would be a “publicity coup” for Isis.