John Baron MP welcomes decision against military action in Syria

MP: Iraq’s legacy is that the bar for military action has been set much higher

Yesterday in the House of Commons, MPs rejected calls for Britain to join potential US and French air strikes on Syria. As a result of last night’s vote, Britain will not take part in any military strikes. John voted against the Government, believing key foreign policy decisions are more important than party politics, and that this was a miscalculation by Number 10.

John said,

“This has been a good day for Parliament. MPs from all sides have deep-seated concerns about military intervention, and too many of our questions remain unanswered. It felt as though we were rushing into action, particularly as the UN inspectors had yet to report back.”

“The legacy of Iraq is that the bar for military action has been set much higher. This was a miscalculation by Number 10, but key foreign policy issues are more important than party politics. As for the ‘special relationship’, good friends tell each other when they are going wrong – the relationship survived Vietnam.”

“Questions about the evidence, the legitimacy of taking action without a UN resolution and about the military objectives were not answered. Many of us also feared an escalation of this conflict beyond Syria’s borders. This is a vicious civil war where atrocities have been committed on both sides.”

“Those of us who oppose military intervention believe much more could be done in other areas. On the humanitarian front, the refugee camps are desperately short of basic amenities, whilst diplomatically we should go the extra mile – it makes no sense excluding Iran from any forthcoming peace talks.”