EXCL SNP tell Theresa May it would be a 'scandal' if MPs don't get vote on Syria action
3 min read
It would be a "scandal" if Theresa May does not seek MPs' approval to launch bombing raids on Syria, the SNP has said.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, the party's defence spokesperson, Stewart McDonald, also said the Nationalists would not support any military action which was not "part of an overall strategy to bring the war to an end".
Donald Trump has warned that US missiles "will be coming" in the wake of last weekend's chemical weapons attack on Douma in Eastern Ghouta.
Mrs May has also said that Bashar al-Assad will be "held to account" if international investigators prove that his regime was behind the deadly attack, which left dozens dead.
However, she is coming under pressure from many MPs - including Conservatives - to seek parliamentary approval for sending RAF fighters into battle.
In his letter, Mr McDonald said that the SNP "unequivocally condemns the use of chemical weapons", but cautioned against a rush to war.
He said: "Undoubtedly the use of chemical weapons cannot be allowed to become normal, but there are options open to the UK government that do not involve the use of lethal force, and would not require UK forces to deepen our military role in an already extremely complex theatre of war.
"I am not convinced that the retaliatory airstrikes being proposed by the United States is a proper way forward."
The Glasgow South MP added: "The UK is only actively engaged in Syria because the UK government carried a motion on December 2nd 2015 in which it asked parliament to approve the “exclusive” targeting of Daesh in that country. If the UK government wishes to expand its involvement then it would be a scandal if it did so without a full debate and vote in the House of Commons.
"There must be a proper response to such a heinous attack. As the third party, the SNP is open to discussing with the UK government what form that should take. However, we cannot support any action that is not part of an overall strategy to bring the war to an end that risks escalating violence or widens the conflict."
Theresa May spoke to President Trump and French president Emmanuel Macron yesterday to discuss the Douma attack.
“They agreed that reports of a chemical weapons attack in Syria were utterly reprehensible and if confirmed, represented further evidence of the Assad regime’s appalling cruelty against its own people and total disregard for its legal obligations not to use these weapons," a Downing Street spokesperson said.
“They agreed that the international community needed to respond to uphold the worldwide prohibition on the use of chemical weapons."
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