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Syria air strikes: Theresa May faces MPs' questions

April 17, 2018 02:28·
Sky The attack was launched from the Red Sea the north Arabian Gulf and from the air

Sky The attack was launched from the Red Sea the north Arabian Gulf and from the air

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May gives a press conference at Downing Street in central London on April 14, 2018, following British military action against Syria.

A series of MPs instead took aim at Corbyn's insistence that even military action to avert humanitarian catastrophes should only happen with the approval of the United Nations security council, among them the Tory former attorney general Dominic Grieve.

He also questioned the legal justification of the attack, saying it was not in line with the UN Security Council's charter.

United Kingdom prime ministers do not legally need to consult Parliament before launching military action, although they have done so since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. This legally questionable action risks escalating further, as USA defence secretary James Mattis has admitted, an already devastating conflict and therefore makes real accountability for war crimes and use of chemical weapons less, not more likely.

But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn insisted that greater intelligence checks were needed before military intervention and Attorney General Jeremy Wright's legal advice must be published in full.

May said the presence of helicopters and the use of barrel bombs pointed the finger of blame squarely at the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

There was no practicable alternative to the truly exceptional use of force to degrade the Syrian regime's chemical weapons capability and deter their further use by the Syrian regime in order to alleviate humanitarian suffering. However, that has been less the case in recent years.

"She authorized military action with no mandate", said one Conservative lawmaker on condition of anonymity.

Sites near Damascus and Homs were hit on Saturday in response to the alleged chemical attack on Douma on 7 April.

It returns from its break on Monday, when May will face MPs' questions on the strikes.

This is the first time as Prime Minister that I have had to take the decision to commit our armed forces in combat - and it is not a decision I have taken lightly.

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"I'm absolutely clear that it is parliament's responsibility to hold me to account for such decisions and parliament will do so", May told the House of Commons in a rowdy session.

"The three leaders agreed that the military strikes taken against the Syrian Regime's chemical weapons sites had been a success", a No 10 spokesman said.

British Prime Minister Theresa May, facing a rowdy session of parliament on Monday, defended her decision to join US -led missile strikes against Syria without first seeking parliament's authorization.

The Scottish National Party said it would table a motion for an emergency debate to try to get MPs a vote on whether they backed the military action.

"We have not done this because President Trump asked us to, we have done it because we believed it was the right thing to do, and we are not alone", May said to cheers.

"It shows a weak government putting short-term political expediency before democracy and in so doing further diminishing the standing of Britain in the world", Cable said.

"We all know that the Syrian civil war will only end through diplomatic means, which is why this evening's Stop the War demonstration should be taking place outside the Russian embassy, and not outside this parliament", he said.

Corbyn also added the strikes will make assigning blame for the use of chemical weapons in Syria "less, not more, likely".

"If the West had acted against Assad's chemical weapons attacks in 2013, we might not have had to embark on military action now".

British Prime Minister Theresa May faced restive lawmakers on Monday to justify her decision to launch airstrikes against Syria without a vote in Parliament.

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