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Royal Air Force
British parliament votes to launch air strikes on Isis in Syria
Conservative PM David Cameron won the support of almost one third of Labour MPs in his plan for military intervention in the region.
BRITISH MPs HAVE tonight voted in favour of deploying the Royal Air Force to launch air strikes against the Islamic State group (Isis) in Syria.
The 397-223 vote followed a marathon parliamentary debate that began at 11.34 am this morning.
Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative party colleagues backed the plan for Britain’s military to join their French and US counterparts in attacking Isis targets in the region.
The Labour party, however, had been divided in recent days, with leader Jeremy Corbyn strongly opposed to British military intervention, but several senior figures supported Cameron’s plan.
According to Sky News, some 67 Labour MPs – almost one third of the party’s 213 parliamentary contingent – defied their leader and voted with the Conservative government.
Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary Hillary Benn received rousing applause for a speech in which he called Isis “fascists”, and supported air strikes against them.
Here is the exact wording of the motion:
Earlier, MPs rejected by a margin of 390-211 a motion which sought to block air strikes, claiming that the case for intervention had not been made.
Poll: Do you support airstrikes against Isis in Syria?>
Read: The case for war – Reasons for and against bombing Islamic State in Syria>
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