BBC News
David Cameron says launching UK air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria will "make us safer".
The prime minister denied claims it would make the UK a bigger target for terror attacks, as he made the case for military action, in the Commons.
He told MPs the UK was already a target for IS - and the only way to deal with that was to "take action" now.
The UK could not "outsource our security to allies" and it had to stand by France, he added.
David Cameron says he will hold a Commons vote on Syria air strikes if he thinks he will win it.
- Follow rolling updates on the UK's Syria debate
- Nine key questions on Syria answered
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn sought assurances the UK would not be dragged into a ground war and asked the PM whether UK air strikes would make any military difference.
He said there was "no doubt" the "so-called Islamic State group has imposed a reign of terror on millions in Iraq, Syria and Libya" and that it "poses a threat to our own people".
But he added: "The question must now be whether extending the UK bombing from Iraq to Syria is likely to reduce, or increase, that threat and whether it will counter, or spread, the terror campaign Isis is waging in the Middle East."
Jeremy Corbyn: "Does it strengthen or undermine our security?"
Mr Cameron said "we face a fundamental threat to our security" and could not wait for a political solution, and that doing nothing "could make the UK more of a target for Isil attacks".
"That bomb in Paris, that could have been London. If they had their way, it would be London," said Mr Cameron.
"I can't stand here and say we are safe from all these threats. We are not. I can't stand here either and say we will remove the threat through the action that we take.
"But do I stand here with advice behind me that taking action will reduce and degrade that threat over time? Absolutely and I have examined my conscience and that's what it is telling me."
He added that taking action as part of a coalition would "help make us safer".
Analysis
ReutersBy BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner
If the prime minister gets his way and Parliament does give the go-ahead for Britain to join in air strikes against IS in Syria then there are a number of facts people should know.
This will not lead to the immediate or even imminent demise of so-called Islamic State.
It will simply add to the incremental damage being done over time to this proscribed terrorist group by other air forces already bombing in Syria.
IS's centre of gravity is around Raqqa, in Syria. Britain is already at war with IS next door in Iraq, where the RAF has been hitting their positions for more than a year.
So Britain is already a target for IS-inspired terrorist attacks, including some of the seven thwarted in the UK in the last year.
But IS will be acutely aware of this very public debate and will very likely look to "punish" Britain in the way it has already targeted France.
So in the short to medium term this would increase - but not initiate - the terrorist threat to UK.
Mr Cameron ruled out British "boots on the ground" - and insisted the RAF had specialist bombing capabilities that were needed by its allies.
He also addressed concerns about the downing of a Russian jet, insisting procedures were in place to reduce the risk of a similar incident.
'Publicity coup'
He told MPs there was strong legal justification for extending the current military action in Iraq, on grounds of self-defence and the recent UN Security Council resolution.
He stressed that IS could not be defeated by air strikes alone, but they were a key part of a wider "comprehensive" strategy to deal with the threat, including the removal of President Assad and supporting the Free Syrian Army.
Mr Cameron answered questions from 103 MPs during a marathon for two hours and forty minutes as he sought to persuade them to back air strikes.
The prime minister said there would not be a vote in the Commons unless there was a majority for action "because we will not hand a publicity coup to Isil".
Some backbench Tory and Labour MPs who voted against air strikes in Syria in 2013, under different circumstances, have said they will back the government this time.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has indicated he is against strikes. He is under pressure to offer his MPs a free vote but is hoping his shadow cabinet can come to a "collective view" on the issue.
The SNP, which has 54 Westminster MPs, has said it will not back military intervention without a specific authorisation from the United Nations. The party's leader at Westminster Angus Robertson said he was not satisfied with the PM's response to the foreign affairs committee report.
The Democratic Unionist Party, which has eight MPs, has suggested it could be open to backing air strikes - in 2013 five of its MPs voted against the government.
DUP leader Nigel Dodds launched a strongly-worded attack on Jeremy Corbyn, saying his "petulant" opposition to action was the response of the "irresponsible revolutionary bedsit".
The prime minister's case is set out in detail in his earlier response to a recentForeign Affairs Committee report setting out the tests for military intervention.
In it, he calls for IS to be denied a "safe haven" in Syria and says it is wrong for the UK to "expect the aircrews of other nations to carry the burdens and the risks of striking Isil in Syria to stop terrorism here in Britain".
The government's strategy will include:
- providing humanitarian support to Syrians
- planning for the "reconstruction" of war-torn Syria
- working with international partners to tackle IS
Reuters
AFP
No comments:
Post a Comment