Syria: What A ‘Yes’ Vote Could Mean For The Military

With a blast of blue and orange flames and a thunderous roar, the first British jets authorised to strike targets in Syria hurtled into action last night – just 57 minutes after MPs had approved the mission.

The RAF has been involved in operations against Islamic State in Iraq since September 2014, but today’s vote has extended operations to Syria.

Prime minister David Cameron secured the strong mandate he had sought with 397 MPs voting in favour and 223 against, a majority of 174, after more than 10 hours of passionate and often angry debate.

Anti-war protestors gesture after the British parliament voted in favour of air strikes against militants in Syria, during a demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Extra planes are expected to be sent to Cyprus as Britain prepares to go to war with Isis in Syria.

Four bombers have taken off from the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus, according to witnesses cited by Reuters. A further six Typhoon jets will join the eight Tornado jets at the Cyprus base.

“These terrorists are plotting to kill us and to radicalise our children right now. They attack us because of who we are, not because of what we do”, Cameron told a packed House of Commons, where many MPs sat on steps or stayed standing.

Cameron said high-precision, laser-guided Brimstone missiles would help to make a real difference by hitting the de facto Islamic State capital of Raqqa and its oil-trading business.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama has welcomed Britain’s and Germany’s decision to join the air campaign against the dreaded Islamic State militant group in Syria.

If lawmakers support Cameron, British air strikes – which finance minister George Osborne said would cost in the “low tens of millions of pounds” – could be launched from an air base in Cyprus within hours of a vote. “It’s the civilians we’re thinking about here”, one protester in Birmingham said.

“There is no good case for British airstrikes in a war which is already seeing the two major military powers, the USA and Russian Federation, bombing Syria”, the coalition said in a statement.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who opposes military action, said the “spectre of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya” loomed over the debate, referring to unpopular British interventions in foreign conflicts over the past 15 years.