Last week, I voted to accept the UN Resolution calling on all member states to use all necessary force to attack Daesh-ISIL posisiotns in Syria as well as Iraq. I thought it would be helpful to explain how I came to the decision to vote to support the UN resolution.
Many constituents have been in touch on this topic, some in favour some against. I have also received a few ‘campaign’ emails too, which are often a useful barometer of opinion.
It has always been the issue of greatest concern to me if I got elected: that I would become responsible for voting about whether we should send our troops into harms' way and take our great nation to war.
As I stood at the Remembrance services last month, I contemplated again that so many of our young people have gone to war to defend our nation & our values, and have made the ultimate sacrifice. That around the globe today, British armed forces are protecting our assets, saving lives through humanitarian programmes, and teaching other armies to build skills to defend their own nations.
As part of trying to become much better educated on this, in case I ever have to vote, I joined the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme and have been visiting bases around the UK, from HMS Faslane in Scotland, to RAF Boulmer in Northumberland, to detailed briefings at Shrivenham from Chiefs of Staff of all services and Joint Command. I am now much reassured that all our Armed Forces personnel are extraordinarily well trained, committed and keen to put all that into action to protect their country and serve the Queen.
So now the question remains, when is it right to take our nation to war, putting it at risk of reprisal, of attack, of threat to civilian lives at home?
And the answer comes back to me more clearly every day - if the values and freedoms we hold dear, that all those Great War and WW2 troops fought for, are put under threat, then it is the Government's first duty to protect our people, our interests & the future of our ideals.
The United Nations passed a resolution (you can read it in full HERE) calling on Member States to 'take all necessary measures' to defeat ISIL. This death cult wants to eradicate modern Western ideals of freedom of thought, speech and action, of womens' rights. They want to return societies to a pre-Enlightement world where a repressive religious State controls every aspect of our lives.
This is not a vision which I could ever find acceptable, and therefore I reached the inevitable, but no less difficult, decision that the right thing to do would be to give my assent to our Government sending our armed forces to fight Daesh-ISIL, not only in Iraq as we are doing already, but wherever these terrorists are in the world, including Syria. Our RAF personnel were already deploying over Iraqi soil, but until last week's vote they stopped "at the border" with Syria.
There are a few misconceptions which have cropped up in a number of emails I received which I want to hopefully offer some clarification on:
1. This was not a vote to decide if the UK will start to bomb ISIL. We are already bombing ISIL. This was a vote to decide to extend our bombing of ISIL targets in Iraq to ISIL targets in north east Syria.
2. This was not a ‘western invasion’ into the Middle East. This is a UN-mandated campaign which not only includes western allies such as France and the USA, but Middle Eastern allies such as Qatar, Jordan, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates.
3. A few people have suggested that civilians will be at risk from the extension of our campaign against ISIL into Syria. Our weaponry is incredibly sophisticated, more so than our allies’, and our intervention in the existing campaign can only improve the accuracy of airstrikes to specific ISIL targets only. I cannot be clearer on this point, ISIL are slaughtering thousands of ordinary Syrian people, in particular those who are disabled, gay, Christian, or any Muslim who refuses to endorse their sick ideology. The biggest threat to civilians in north east Syria is this barbarous death cult. It is not enough for us to provide aid to those lucky enough to flee. We must do all we can to stop the slaughter and eradicate ISIL.
The extension of our campaign to Syrian targets is not in lieu of a diplomatic effort it runs alongside it. If you have not yet read the Prime Minister’s formal response to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee – please do so HERE.
As you may already have seen, our first RAF airstrike destroyed a Daesh-ISIL oilfield, removing 10% of the group's revenue stream. Thus far, our airstrikes in Iraq and Syria have resulted in no casualties, and I continue to hope and pray that remains the case.