BBC Online :
Cabinet ministers have agreed “on the need to take action” in Syria to “deter the further use of chemical weapons”, Downing Street has said. Ministers at a cabinet meeting said it was “highly likely” the Assad regime was responsible for a suspected chemical attack. They agreed that the use of chemical weapons must not “go unchallenged”. But Transport Minister
Jo Johnson later stressed: “There has been no decision to take military action at this point.” No details of UK involvement in any military action in Syria were mentioned in the Downing Street statement. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has accused the government of “waiting for instructions” from US President Donald Trump and said military action was unlikely to solve the situation in Syria. He said: “More bombing, more killing, more war will not save life. It will just take more lives and spawn the war elsewhere.” Medical sources say dozens of people were killed, including children, during the alleged toxic bombing of the formerly rebel-held town of Douma, in the Eastern Ghouta region. President Trump spoke to the prime minister on Thursday evening, and the pair agreed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had “established a pattern of dangerous behaviour in relation to the use of chemical weapons”. A statement from Downing Street added: “They agreed to keep working closely together on the international response.” President Trump is expected to speak to French President Emmanuel Macron about what form action could take, with the White House saying “no final decision has been made”. BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said it was understood the UK was planning a genuinely joint effort with the US and France, rather than playing a supporting role. Sources say the PM is prepared to take action against the Assad regime without first seeking parliamentary consent. There have been calls from opposition parties and some Conservative MPs for Parliament to have a vote beforehand. Labour’s shadow home secretary Diane Abbott told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It would be outrageous for the government not to bring military action in Syria to Parliament – for Parliament to have a vote… “The reason they’re not doing it is they are frightened they’ll lose the vote.” Mrs May has said “all the indications” are that the Syrian regime of president Bashar al-Assad, which denies mounting a chemical attack, was responsible for the alleged attack in the formerly rebel-held town of Douma.
Cabinet ministers have agreed “on the need to take action” in Syria to “deter the further use of chemical weapons”, Downing Street has said. Ministers at a cabinet meeting said it was “highly likely” the Assad regime was responsible for a suspected chemical attack. They agreed that the use of chemical weapons must not “go unchallenged”. But Transport Minister
Jo Johnson later stressed: “There has been no decision to take military action at this point.” No details of UK involvement in any military action in Syria were mentioned in the Downing Street statement. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has accused the government of “waiting for instructions” from US President Donald Trump and said military action was unlikely to solve the situation in Syria. He said: “More bombing, more killing, more war will not save life. It will just take more lives and spawn the war elsewhere.” Medical sources say dozens of people were killed, including children, during the alleged toxic bombing of the formerly rebel-held town of Douma, in the Eastern Ghouta region. President Trump spoke to the prime minister on Thursday evening, and the pair agreed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had “established a pattern of dangerous behaviour in relation to the use of chemical weapons”. A statement from Downing Street added: “They agreed to keep working closely together on the international response.” President Trump is expected to speak to French President Emmanuel Macron about what form action could take, with the White House saying “no final decision has been made”. BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said it was understood the UK was planning a genuinely joint effort with the US and France, rather than playing a supporting role. Sources say the PM is prepared to take action against the Assad regime without first seeking parliamentary consent. There have been calls from opposition parties and some Conservative MPs for Parliament to have a vote beforehand. Labour’s shadow home secretary Diane Abbott told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It would be outrageous for the government not to bring military action in Syria to Parliament – for Parliament to have a vote… “The reason they’re not doing it is they are frightened they’ll lose the vote.” Mrs May has said “all the indications” are that the Syrian regime of president Bashar al-Assad, which denies mounting a chemical attack, was responsible for the alleged attack in the formerly rebel-held town of Douma.
