Calls from Labour and SNP for Commons debate on Syria attack

Both Labour and the SNP are demanding a full debate when the House of Commons returns tomorrow.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said western allies had failed to exhaust all diplomatic means to pressure Bashar al-Assad’s regime to abandon its chemical weapons, and called for an emergency debate within 48 hours.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for debate on a ‘War Measures Act’ that would limit the government’s power to take military action without the approval of MPs.

Falkirk East MP Martyn Day, commenting on social media, said: “We need a plan for stability and peace in Syria.

“The previous round of air strikes in Syria prior to the chemical weapons attack clearly failed to achieve peace and there is no reason to believe that this latest round will either.

“The UK Parliament now needs an urgent debate on Syria not just a Prime Ministerial statement, something that should have happened before any action.

“Sadly we now appear to be involved in what has been described as “gesture bombing” at the behest of the US president.

“It is said that If we do not learn from history, we are doomed to repeat past mistakes. Sadly the history the UK leaders must be reading is that of Clausewitz who described ‘war as the continuation of foreign policy by other means.’

The government is likely to face calls for a full debate, including a vote, when Mrs May gives a statement to MPs tomorrow on Saturday’s strikes, which saw British, French and US forces attack a handful of Syrian government military installations.