Authorising military action is one of the most important decisions that an MP can take and not one that I took lightly last week. I, along with 66 other Labour MPs, voted to support further action against Isis in Syria. Why?
First, Isis poses a clear threat to British people at home and abroad. Thirty British holidaymakers were murdered in Tunisia in July. Seven UK terror plots have been foiled by our security services this year. For the past 14 months, at the Iraqi government’s request, we have carried out air strikes to defeat Isis in Iraq, conducting more than 1,300 missions with no civilian casualties. It makes no sense to turn our planes back at the Syrian border and allow Isis to regroup and rearm there.
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