David Lammy Says UK Should Be "Cautious" About Regime Change In Syria

Foreign Secretary David Lammy addresses the House over events in Syria (Parliament.TV)

4 min read09 December

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the UK should be “cautious” while welcoming the “opportunity” for the Syrian people after rebels overthrew the Bashar Al Assad regime.

Lammy on Monday told MPs he welcomed the removal of "monster" Assad but stressed that the UK would judge the rebels who have overthrown the dictator on their "actions".

Assad ruled the country for 24 years with the support of Russia and the terrorist group Hezbollah, while the Assad dynasty had controlled Syria since the 1970s. The regime used detention, torture and chemical weapons against political opponents and the Syrian people.

The Syrian civil war that started in 2011 remained deadly but largely inactive over the past few years as pro-Assad forces and rebel groups maintained their strongholds.

However, in recent weeks Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – an alias of the terrorist group Al Qaeda – captured Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city, Homs, in Western Syria, and the capital Damascus, to overthrow the Assad regime.

Lammy told the Commons that Assad was a “monster” who had defied all “laws and norms”.

However, he expressed caution over what HTS rule would mean for Syria in the future. The group was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in 2017 and also faces sanctions from the UN and the United States. Prime Minister Keir Starmer today it was "far too early" to consider removing the group from the UK's list of proscribed terrorist organisations.

“Over less than a fortnight, there has been an extraordinary change," Lammy told MPs.

"What began as an opposition offensive in North-western Syria quickly became a headlock retreat by pro-Assad forces, and over the weekend, the fall of his murderous regime.

“This House will know that the group, whose offensive first pushed back the regime [HTS], are also a proscribed terrorist organization in the UK… that should rightly make us cautious."

The foreign secretary said HTS had "offered reassurances" to Syrian minorities and had also "committed to cooperating with the international community over monitoring chemical weapons"

"We will judge HTS by their actions, monitoring closely how they and other parties to this conflict treat all civilians in areas their control," Lammy said.

The Cabinet minister said that the Labour Government chose not to “engage” with Assad while he was leader because of his brutal record as a dictator.

“We said no because Assad is a monster. We said no because Assad was a dictator, whose sole interest was his wealth, and his past. And we said no because Assad is a criminal who defied all laws and norms to use chemical weapons against the Syrian people...

“We have long hoped to see him gone and welcome the opportunity. This brings for the people of Syria.”

The Foreign Secretary welcomed the deterioration of Iran’s so-called Axis of Resistance, which refers to Tehran's coalition in the Middle East against Western allies including Israel.

He said that the Government had three priorities for Syria which included protecting civilians, securing a negotiated political settlement and preventing further escalation. This was a reference to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war which has waged on for more than a year.

The Government later confirmed it had paused Syrian asylum claims while it assessed the “current situation.” This followed similar decisions made by France and Germany.

Lord Ricketts, a former national security advisor, told PoliticsHome that a large reason why rebel forces made significant breakthroughs was because of the weakness of Hezbollah and Russia.

“Hezbollah was a major prop for the Assad regime, and the fact that a large amount of its military capability has been taken out in the last couple of months has added to the fragility that was already there,” he said.

“The Iranians are also very much under the gun from Israeli raids and worried about their security, and the Russians are bogged down in Ukraine, so all the main pillars for supporting Assad, Russians, Iranian Hezbollah fighters.

“None of them had any time really for Assad and Syria so a combination of events meant that the hollowness of the regime suddenly was exposed by this HTS advance.”

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