London:
The British Parliament will vote on Wednesday on Prime Minister David Cameron’s proposal of the UK joining US-led air strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria.
Cameron called the vote after it emerged that nearly 100 Labour MPs are likely to back the move, giving him enough votes for a parliamentary approval.
“I believe there’s growing support across Parliament for the compelling case there is to answer the call from our allies, to act against ISIL (Islamic State) in Syria and in Iraq,” Cameron had said.
On Monday, Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn allowed his MPs a free vote, handing Cameron the majority he needs to avoid a repeat of a defeat in 2013, when Parliament voted down a motion to launch strikes against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The UK Cabinet is now set to endorse Cameron’s plan to hold a one-day debate followed by a vote.
A motion setting out the UK government’s case will be published later and Wednesday’s entire parliamentary schedule, including Cameron’s questions, will be cleared to make way for the debate.
A spokesperson for Corbyn, a veteran anti-war campaigner, said: “By refusing a full two-day debate, David Cameron is demonstrating he knows the debate is running away from him, and that the case he made last week is falling apart.
Cameron should stop the rush to war to allow for a full discussion of the issues in Parliament.
“Matters of national security are far too important to be bulldozed through the House of Commons for political convenience,” the spokesperson said.
However, Cameron has stressed that there would be “the equivalent number of questions we would often have across a two-day debate in one day.”
“I want MPs to be able to have full consideration, to make speeches, to make points, to ask me questions, to examine the government’s case,” he said.
The UK Parliament’s third largest party, the Scottish National Party, had also called for a debate over two days.
It opposes bombing ISIS in Syria, while the Liberal Democrats, with eight MPs, have yet to say how they will vote.
