PARLIAMENTARY REPORT


UNITED KINGDOM


EMERGENCY DEBATE ON SYRIA


On 30 August 2013, the British Government was defeated in the House of Commons on a vote relating to military action for the first time in 150 years. The Prime Minister, Rt Hon David Cameron, MP, (Con) had asked the Speaker to recall Parliament from its summer recess to debate the response to a chemical weapons attack outside Damascus. The motion before the House set out the scale of alleged atrocities in Syria, accused the Assad Government of using chemical weapons against its own people, called for a “strong humanitarian response” and stated, “this may, if necessary, require military action that is legal, proportionate and focused on saving lives”. However, the motion did not mandate such action, saying that a further vote of the House of Commons would be required.


Rt Hon. David Cameron, MP Rt Hon. Edward Milliband, MP


Opening the debate, the Prime Minister described the use of chemical weapons as “a war crime”. He said that the U.S. President, Barack Obama,


342 | The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue Four


was not eager to go to war, but “profoundly believes that an important red line has been crossed in an appalling way”. He stressed that the government intended to wait for the report of the United Nations investigations team, contrasting that position with the lead-up to the second Iraq war. He argued there was strong intelligence evidence that the Assad Government was responsible for the chemical weapons attacks and that, on this issue, the international community was more united than on Iraq. The Prime Minister concluded by saying: “on this issue Britain should not stand aside. We must play our part in a strong international response; we must be prepared to take decisive action to do so. That is what today’s motion is about, and I commend it to the House.” Responding to the Prime


Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, Rt Hon. Ed Miliband, MP, (Lab), moved an amendment that set out a series of conditions that he believed should apply


before the House considered approving military action. He began by sharing the Prime Minister’s condemnation of the attacks in Syria and of the Assad regime. However, he argued that further evidence – particularly of the Assad Government’s complicity in chemical weapons attacks – was required. He argued that any action should be “time- limited with specific purpose and scope” and that it should regard to the consequences of any action. He described the conditions set out in the opposition’s amendment as a “road map” to taking a decision on military action. Concluding his speech he said: “The seriousness of our deliberations should match the significance of the decision we face, which is why I urge the House to support our amendment.”


Speaking for the Scottish Nationalist Party, Mr Angus


Mr Angus McNeil, MP


McNeil, MP, questioned why the House had been recalled


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