Labour’s conference is to debate and vote on whether to support military action in Syria.
An emergency motion lays down strict conditions before the party will back any move by David Cameron to bomb Isis. The debate on the motion on Wednesday will expose rifts between senior party members over the issue.
The shadow foreign secretary, Hilary Benn, told the conference on Monday that Labour would support effective action in Syria, but ruled out backing the deployment of UK troops on the ground.
John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has suggested Labour MPs may be a given a free vote if Cameron brings a fresh motion to the Commons supporting airstrikes in Syria.
Diane Abbott, the shadow international development secretary, departed from the script for her conference speech to say explicitly that she opposed airstrikes.
The motion submitted by the Unite union asks the conference to support four strict conditions before voting for military action. The conditions are: authorisation from the United Nations; a comprehensive plan for humanitarian assistance for any refugees who may be displaced by the action; assurances that the bombing is directed exclusively at military targets associated with Isis; and that any military action is subordinated to international diplomatic efforts to end the war in Syria.
The motion notes that if the bombing campaign advocated by Cameron in 2013 had not been blocked by the parliamentary Labour party under Ed Miliband’s leadership, Isis forces might now be in control of Syria.
It says it is likely that Cameron will seek Commons support to extend participation in the bombing of Iraq to Syria in the near future.
On Monday Benn urged Cameron to stay in New York for the UN general assembly this week to secure a UN chapter 7 agreement in Syria involving Russia and Iran.
He made it clear he did not think the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, could be part of the peace process, saying that as part of any agreement Assad should be referred to the international criminal court for alleged war crimes.
In carefully crafted remarks, Benn said: “It is the first responsibility of any government to ensure the security of its people and to be prepared to defend our nation from those who would do us harm, so we are right to be offering air support to the government of Iraq in trying to defeat Isil/Daesh [Islamic State], but let me be clear, we do not want British boots on the ground in either Iraq or Syria.
“Now, there’s been a lot of talk about airstrikes in Syria, but to bring peace, stability and security there we need a much broader, more comprehensive plan than just trying to deal with Isil/Daesh.”
An emergency motion lays down strict conditions before the party will back any move by David Cameron to bomb Isis. The debate on the motion on Wednesday will expose rifts between senior party members over the issue.
The shadow foreign secretary, Hilary Benn, told the conference on Monday that Labour would support effective action in Syria, but ruled out backing the deployment of UK troops on the ground.
John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has suggested Labour MPs may be a given a free vote if Cameron brings a fresh motion to the Commons supporting airstrikes in Syria.
Diane Abbott, the shadow international development secretary, departed from the script for her conference speech to say explicitly that she opposed airstrikes.
The motion submitted by the Unite union asks the conference to support four strict conditions before voting for military action. The conditions are: authorisation from the United Nations; a comprehensive plan for humanitarian assistance for any refugees who may be displaced by the action; assurances that the bombing is directed exclusively at military targets associated with Isis; and that any military action is subordinated to international diplomatic efforts to end the war in Syria.
The motion notes that if the bombing campaign advocated by Cameron in 2013 had not been blocked by the parliamentary Labour party under Ed Miliband’s leadership, Isis forces might now be in control of Syria.
It says it is likely that Cameron will seek Commons support to extend participation in the bombing of Iraq to Syria in the near future.
On Monday Benn urged Cameron to stay in New York for the UN general assembly this week to secure a UN chapter 7 agreement in Syria involving Russia and Iran.
He made it clear he did not think the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, could be part of the peace process, saying that as part of any agreement Assad should be referred to the international criminal court for alleged war crimes.
In carefully crafted remarks, Benn said: “It is the first responsibility of any government to ensure the security of its people and to be prepared to defend our nation from those who would do us harm, so we are right to be offering air support to the government of Iraq in trying to defeat Isil/Daesh [Islamic State], but let me be clear, we do not want British boots on the ground in either Iraq or Syria.
“Now, there’s been a lot of talk about airstrikes in Syria, but to bring peace, stability and security there we need a much broader, more comprehensive plan than just trying to deal with Isil/Daesh.”
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