Virtual Lancaster

Despite growing public concern at further war in the Middle East, Morecambe MP David Morris voted in favour of British air attacks on Syria in Parliament last night.

Mr Morris believes RAF weapons are so accurate they will only kill Islamic State militants.

Here is his statement in full, backing a military action that will cost at least £1.3 million a day to conduct – spending in a week what Lancashire County Council needs to keep 40 libraries open for a year.

Speaking after last night’s vote David Morris MP said:

“Before today’s vote I had not decided how I would cast my vote after the debate. A number of factors were important to me, the views of my constituent’s, whether there was a UN mandate, the motion itself, the arguments placed by the Prime Minister and the opposition’s argument. I sat in the chamber and watched the debate and I thought that the Prime Minister made a strong case, with the backing of a UN resolution. The Leader of the Opposition made an extremely weak argument. I tried to intervene to ask him that even though no-one wants to go to war does he believe that doing nothing is really a serious option. He would not give way to me in the chamber and I do not believe he answered my concerns in his opening remarks.

“ISIL or Daesh are a real threat to our Country, the threat level of terrorism is already at the highest level it can be and doing nothing simply increases the chances of an attack, taking air action over time will decrease that threat, and will let Daesh know that their heinous ideology will not be tolerated

“I was reassured by the Prime Minister’s argument that the Government have been called to action by other Nation states and that the Government have a sufficient plan to carry out an effective campaign. I along with other Members would not support our troops on the ground in Syria but I do believe that we have unique missiles, which are so accurate, innocent civilians in Syria will not be affected. I am pleased that the Prime Minister confirmed that in Iraq there have been no reported casualties from British airstrikes in the year and three months we have been engaged in combat there.

“Doing nothing is simply not an option in my opinion. We have all seen the terrible scenes coming from the Mediterranean with refugees fleeing the horrors in Syria to come to Europe. Even though the UK is the second highest aid provider to Syria, until the political situation in Syria is addressed the refugee crisis will only escalate. The only way forward is to join a coalition of countries who are taking action to ensure that a newly elected democratic Government of Syria can be achieved. Defeating Daesh is the first step to this process.

“In short Daesh do not recognise the border between Iraq and Syria and in the sense of airstrikes nor should we. I am glad that the House has supported the Prime Minister and that Britain is playing its rightful part in the global force against Daesh supported by the UN resolution.”

Lancaster MP Cat Smith was one of the 153 Labour MPs who voted against air strikes. Unlike the Conservatives, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn gave his MPs a free vote on the motion. 66 Labour MPs voted for air strikes.

Seven Tory MPs defied their whips and voted against airstrikes.