British air strikes on Isis in Syria: Labour MPs warn they will rebel if not given free vote on bombing

Dozens of Labour MPs, including shadow ministers, are preparing to defy Jeremy Corbyn and back the Government’s plan to extend British air strikes against Isis in Syria without UN support.

David Cameron has warned that he would not “outsource” decisions needed “to keep our country safe” to the UN, as he gave the clearest indication yet that he will call a vote in Parliament on military action within weeks. He insisted the question of how to dismantle Isis in Syria could not be “dodged forever”.

The Labour leadership has said it will oppose the plan unless a request for authorisation has been formally put to the UN’s Security Council and would not support the “unilateral UK bombing of Syria”. Mr Corbyn has warned that airstrikes will only cause “more mayhem and more loss” in the region.

But dozens of Labour MPs have made clear they are prepared to defy him and vote with the Government to authorise air strikes unless they are given a free vote on the issue. One said that a number of shadow ministers would resign if an attempt was made to force them to vote against action while another described the splits within the Parliamentary party as “huge”.

“Unless Jeremy gives MPs a free vote on this, he is going to face a big rebellion,” said one senior MP. “It’s not that we are war-mongers – far from it. It’s a really difficult dilemma. We want to see what Cameron comes back with in terms of his long-term strategy to bring peace to Syria before we agree to anything. But any attempt to force us to vote against strikes would be completely counter-productive.”

Another Labour source said: “It’s a nightmare. The splits in the party are huge.”

Mr Cameron said he would set out a “detailed” strategy for how air strikes would fit into a wider plan to bring peace to Syria. It is expected to be published within two weeks.

The Government is then expected to move swiftly to put the plan to a Commons vote with the potential for the first air strikes to take place before Christmas.

Many Labour MPs believe that, despite the party’s official position it wants to wait for the details of Mr Cameron’s plan before deciding whether or not to back air strikes, Mr Corbyn will find it impossible to back military action.

“The best thing he could do is give MPs a free vote,” said another source. “Because the way people are feeling at the moment if he tells us to vote against it will make us more likely to vote in favour.

“This last week has given everyone the impression that we are very weak on security and made it far harder for us to properly scrutinise the Government’s proposals.”

But another senior MP said: “I don’t see how Jeremy can hold the line on Syria. There are substantial numbers of us – dozens – who might be prepared to vote for action in Syria. I don’t see how he can ask people to abstain either – what sort of message would that send out about his qualities of leadership?”

Emma Reynolds, a former shadow cabinet minister, said she believed the only way forward was to give MPs a free vote, adding: “I am open minded and certainly not pro war, but I want to how air strikes against Isis would fit into the broader strategy in the region.”

Labour’s shadow Foreign Secretary, Hilary Benn, said the Government should seek a political solution and a UN resolution because the “chaos of the civil war” is creating the vacuum in which Isis is thriving. He said if Russia were to unreasonably veto plans for action they would “need to look again” at the problem, but urged the Prime Minister to seek a resolution first.

The Government’s reluctance to seek UN authorisation is based on a belief that it would face a Russian veto. But in an interview on Channel 4 News, Russia’s UK ambassador, Alexander Yakovenko suggested that this might no longer be the case.

“We would like the British side to help us on [air strikes],” he said, before adding: “To take part in the operation he should have either the UN decision or an invitation from the Syrian government.”