One of David Cameron’s most searing memories from his first term in Downing Street is of the night in August 2013 when, during an emergency recall of parliament, he lost a Commons vote designed to pave the way for airstrikes against the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
The prime minister believed that the defeat, which followed a decision by Ed Miliband to vote against the government after lengthy negotiations in No 10, made him look weak on the world stage and undermined his standing in Washington.
In the minutes afterwards the prime minister and George Osborne vowed to themselves that they would never again seek parliamentary approval for armed intervention unless they could be absolutely certain they would prevail.
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