British air strikes on Syria move closer as Cameron calls vote

The prospect of British air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria moved closer today, when Jeremy Corbyn agreed to allow Labour MPs a free vote on the issue and prime minister David Cameron said he would hold a one-day debate and vote in parliament on Wednesday to decide whether to launch the air strikes.

With between 60 and 80 Labour MPs inclined to back air strikes, Mr Cameron now looks set to secure the “clear majority” he wants for military intervention against Islamic State, also known as Isis or Isil.

“I will be recommending to cabinet tomorrow that we hold a debate and a vote in the House of Commons to extend the air strikes that we’ve carried out against Isil in Iraq, that we extend that to Syria,” he said in a televised statement.

During a long and reportedly heated meeting of the shadow cabinet, Mr Corbyn backed down from a demand that the free vote should be accompanied by a statement declaring that Labour policy was opposed to bombing in Syria.

And in an unusual arrangement that reflects the party’s divisions, Mr Corbyn, who opposes air strikes, will open the parliamentary debate for Labour and his foreign affairs spokesman Hilary Benn, who supports them, will close it.

Call for debate

In a letter to the prime minister after the shadow cabinet meeting, the Labour leader called on Mr Cameron to allow two days of debate in the House of Commons.

“As has happened previously a one-day debate would inevitably lead to important contributions being curtailed. It is incumbent on us all to ensure the country feels there has been the fullest parliamentary discussion of what you have rightly described as a highly complex situation,” Mr Corbyn wrote to the prime minister.

However, the prime minister’s subsequent statement ruled out the possibility of a two-day debate.

“Ultimately the prime minister has always been clear that he will only bring this to the house for their consent when there is a clear majority in the house for action,” Mr Cameron’s spokesman said.

Labour MPs agree that the party’s policy is expressed in an emergency motion approved at this year’s party conference, which set out a number of conditions that would have to be fulfilled before Labour could back intervention in Syria. They disagree, however, on whether Mr Cameron’s proposal fulfils those conditions, with Mr Corbyn believing it does not.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) condemned Labour’s decision to give MPs a free vote, saying it made military intervention more likely, but backed Mr Corbyn’s call for a two-day debate.

“With the Labour Party giving up its whip on a matter of war and peace – it is now the responsibility of the Scottish National Party to take the lead in holding the UK government to account. Given the seriousness of the issue it is also only right that the prime minister allows for two days of full debate,” said Angus Robertson, the party’s leader at Westminster.

The Liberal Democrats were meeting last night to discuss their position on air strikes, with a number of reports suggesting they were moving towards supporting action.

Three-line whip

As late as yesterday morning, the Labour leader’s allies were suggesting that he could impose a three-line whip, ordering MPs to vote against military intervention.

Diane Abbott, one of Mr Corbyn’s closest allies in the shadow cabinet, said it was essential for Labour, as a potential party of government, to adopt a position on an issue of war and peace.

“The problem with a free vote is that it hands victory to Cameron over these air strikes, it hands victory to him on a plate. I don’t think that’s what party members want to see,” she told the BBC.

Labour said that three out of four party members who took part in an email poll in recent days were against the air strikes.