Photo: Alan Mak MP listens to the Prime Minister's address to the House of Commons on the issue of extending airstrikes against ISIL terrorists to Syria on Wednesday 2 December 2015
Tonight the House of Commons voted decisively on a cross-party basis by 397 to 223 (a majority of 174) to authorise UK airstrikes against so-called Islamic State/ISIL/Daesh terrorists based in Syria, including at their headquarters in Raqqa, Syria.
Those supporting the Government motion included MPs from the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, and Democratic Unionist parties. There was, therefore, strong cross-party support for the extension of airstrikes against ISIL.
After careful consideration of the issues over many weeks – combined with careful consideration of the exact wording of the motion itself – I supported the motion before the House tonight to extend airstrikes against ISIL terrorists into Syria (a copy of the full motion text is reproduced below).
I know that that in so doing I will be in line with many of my constituents but will be disappointing others. Ultimately, I have done what I think is right in the circumstances, and what I think is in the long-term interests of the residents of the Havant constituency and the UK.
I have taken into consideration a number of factors, including but not limited to:
1. the views of constituents who have contacted me (on all sides of the argument), and their long-term security interests;
2. a cross-party security briefing by the Defence Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary, International Development Secretary, the National Security Advisor (Sir Mark Lyall Grant) and the Lt. General Gordon Messenger (Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff, i.e. deputy head of the Armed Forces); and
3. the views of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and other Party leaders; and other MPs, as well as some Peers in the House of Lords (including former senior members of the Armed Forces and senior diplomats).
In summary, I have given weight to the following factors:
1. UN Security Council Resolution 2249 was passed unanimously by all members (including Russia and China) and has authorised “all necessary measures” to defeat ISIL terrorists giving us sound international legal and moral authority to act;
2. ISIL already poses a direct and current threat to Britain and we have already foiled plots by ISIL to target British citizens on British soil;
3. UK RAF planes are already authorised to target ISIL in neighbouring Iraq, and we must extend this to cover Syria, especially as ISIL no longer recognises the international Syrian border;
4. ISIL’s headquarters are in Syria, and we need to tackle them head on there in order to defeat them; and
5. We must stand with our allies France and the United States. It would send the wrong message to our allies – and to ISIL – if we stood by whilst our closest neighbour and ally France was attacked, and we failed to stand shoulder to shoulder with them.
The recent Paris attacks show what ISIL terrorists are capable of, and we must act to end their savagery before it is too late by extending airstrikes against them from Iraq into Syria, including targeting their headquarters in Raqqa, Syria. Alongside military action, we must continue with parallel diplomatic, political and humanitarian efforts working with our international partners. Further details are below.
Threat from ISIL to the UK
The scale of the threat that we face from ISIL is unprecedented. It has already taken the lives of British hostages, and inspired the worst terrorist attack against British people since 7/7, on the beaches of Tunisia.
In the last 12 months, our police and security services have disrupted seven terrorist plots to attack the UK, every one of which was either linked to or inspired by ISIL. I am in no doubt that it is in our national interest for action to be taken to stop them. ISIL has a dedicated external operations structure in Syria, which is planning mass casualty attacks around the world.
ISIL targets our young people, using sophisticated grooming techniques to lure them to Syria – to fight; to blow themselves up as suicide bombers; or to condemn themselves to lives of subjugation, oppression and cruelty.
Around 800 British individuals of national security concern have travelled to Syria since the conflict began. Many have joined ISIL and other terrorist groups. Of those who are known to have travelled, about half have returned. Some of these, and many of those who remain in Syria, pose a threat to our security.
There were 299 arrests in the UK in the year ending 31 March 2015 for terrorism-related offences: an increase of 31% compared with the previous year and the highest number since data collection began in 2001. We have also seen the youngest ever convicted terrorist in the UK, when a 15 year old boy was sentenced to life in prison last month, following his radicalisation over the internet and contact with individuals based in Syria who had urged him to plan acts of terror in the UK. In June, a 17 year-old from West Yorkshire became the youngest ever UK suicide bomber, blowing himself up in Iraq.
Threat from ISIL to the Middle East
ISIL poses a significant threat to the stability of the region, including to the security of Jordan, one of the UK’s key allies. ISIL’s offshoots and affiliates are spreading instability and conflict in Libya, Afghanistan, Yemen and Nigeria.
In the Middle East, ISIL is seeking to establish their vision of a caliphate across Iraq and Syria, forcing people in those areas to yield to their rule or face torture or death. They have beheaded aid workers, organised systematic rape, enslaved Yazidi women and thrown gay people off buildings.
UK military action will help degrade ISIL – it is already working in Iraq
Upon request for assistance from the Iraqi Government, British aircraft are delivering the second highest number of airstrikes over Iraq already. However stopping ISIL means taking action in neighbouring Syria too, because Raqqa in Syria is its headquarters.
Coalition air strikes in Iraq, in which the UK is participating, are having an effect. With Coalition air support, Iraqi forces have halted ISIL’s advance and recovered 30% of the territory it had captured in Iraq. In November, Sinjar was liberated after last year’s ISIL rout and mass killing of Yazidis, with the help of vital RAF and other partners’ air support for Kurdish Peshmerga forces on the ground.
Military action is only one element of what is needed to defeat this appalling terrorist death cult. But it is a vital element: ISIL is not a threat that can be negotiated away. This is as true in Syria as it is in Iraq. There is a credible military strategy to defeat ISIL in Syria, as well as in Iraq. We should not expect this to happen quickly. It will require patience and persistence. But it is achievable.
While the political track progresses, the Coalition’s military strategy aims to stop ISIL’s advance through the air campaign, to strike them in their heartland and to put them under pressure by continuing to degrade and dismantle their economic and military capability. This military effort helps put ISIL on the defensive, suppressing their ability to conduct external attacks against the UK and our friends and allies. Military defeat will demonstrate clearly ISIL’s inability to build and hold the ‘caliphate’ they aspire to.
Military action against ISIL will relieve the pressure on the moderate opposition, whose survival is crucial for a successful transition to a more inclusive Syrian government. Syria has not been, and should not be, reduced to a choice between Assad or ISIL. Although the situation on the ground is complex, the Government’s assessment is that there are about 70,000 Syrian opposition fighters on the ground who do not belong to extremist groups.
Restricting action to Iraq does not make sense. ISIL does not recognise the border between Syria and Iraq; it operates in a single ungoverned space that straddles both countries. Its practical and ideological headquarters are in Raqqa in Eastern Syria from where it conducts its attack planning, operations and recruitment. Hence the importance of the UK joining military action against ISIL in Syria.
The Government’s objective is to degrade ISIL, and to disrupt the threat it poses to the UK. It would not be to attack the Syrian regime.
UN Security Council Resolution 2249
The threat posed by ISIL is further underscored by the unanimous adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2249.
The resolution states that ISIL “constitutes a global and unprecedented threat to international peace and security” and calls for member states to take “all necessary measures” to prevent and suppress terrorist acts committed specifically by ISIL and, crucially, it says that we should “eradicate the safe haven they have established over significant parts of Iraq and Syria”.
There is a clear legal basis for military action against ISIL in Syria. The legality of UK strikes against ISIL in Syria is founded on the right of self-defence as it is recognised in Article 51 of the UN Charter. The right to self-defence may be exercised individually where it is necessary to the UK’s own defence, and collectively in the defence of our friends and allies.
The underlying considerations which justified collective self-defence of Iraq for UK activity in Syria in 2014 remain today. The collective self-defence of Iraq provides a clear legal basis for the UK to increase its contribution to the Coalition’s efforts against ISIL in Syria by taking direct military action itself, provided such activity meets the ongoing requirements of necessity and proportionality.
It is clear that ISIL’s campaign against the UK and its allies has reached the level of an “armed attack” such that force may lawfully be used in self-defence to prevent further atrocities being committed by ISIL. As well as the collective self-defence of Iraq, there is therefore an additional legal basis to take action in our own self-defence and that of other allies and partners as well, where they request our assistance.
Humanitarian and diplomatic efforts alongside military action
We cannot defeat ISIL with military action alone. The Prime Minister’s approach is based on the counter-extremism strategy to prevent attacks at home, the diplomatic and political process to work with our allies, humanitarian support and longer-term stabilisation, as well as military action. Britain has so far given over £1.1 billion, surpassed only by the USA, and would contribute at least another £1 billion for post-conflict reconstruction to support a new Syrian Government when they emerge.
Peace is a process, not an event, I agree it cannot be achieved through a military assault on ISIL alone, but the strategy must start with degrading and defeating ISIL.
Throughout our history, the United Kingdom has stood up to defend our values and our way of life. By supporting the extension of airstrikes to ISIL terrorists based in Syria, we are taking decisive action to protect British citizens at home and abroad, and standing firm with our allies as we defeat terror together.
Click here to view the Prime Minister’s speech opening today’s debate, which provides further details about why he thinks the UK Government should extend airstrikes against ISIL into Syria. I agree with him.
Click here to view the UN Security Council Resolution 2249 authorising military action in Syria
http://www.un.org/press/en/2015/sc12132.doc.htm
======FULL TEXT OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS MOTION PASSED TONIGHT ===========
“That this House notes that ISIL poses a direct threat to the United Kingdom; welcomes United Nations Security Council Resolution 2249 which determines that ISIL constitutes an 'unprecedented threat to international peace and security' and calls on states to take 'all necessary measures' to prevent terrorist acts by ISIL and to 'eradicate the safe haven they have established over significant parts of Iraq and Syria'; further notes the clear legal basis to defend the UK and our allies in accordance with the UN Charter; notes that military action against ISIL is only one component of a broader strategy to bring peace and stability to Syria; welcomes the renewed impetus behind the Vienna talks on a ceasefire and political settlement; welcomes the Government's continuing commitment to providing humanitarian support to Syrian refugees; underlines the importance of planning for post-conflict stabilisation and reconstruction in Syria; welcomes the Government’s continued determination to cut ISIL’s sources of finance, fighters and weapons; notes the requests from France, the US and regional allies for UK military assistance; acknowledges the importance of seeking to avoid civilian casualties, using the UK’s particular capabilities; notes the Government will not deploy UK troops in ground combat operations; welcomes the Government's commitment to provide quarterly progress reports to the House; and accordingly supports Her Majesty's Government in taking military action, specifically airstrikes, exclusively against ISIL in Syria; and offers its wholehearted support to Her Majesty's Armed Forces .”