Running prominently in the broadcast bulletins this morning is reporting on plans the Government has for drumming up support for extending UK air strikes into Syria to tackle ISIL.
Syria
The vote on Syrian air strikes is also once again prominent on the inside pages of the papers this morning. Many stories focus on political aspects, including in articles in the Daily Mail, the Financial Times and the Independent.
The Daily Telegraph reports that the Prime Minister now has enough support to allow him to send warplanes to bomb ISIL targets in Syria. The article adds that sources have said the Commons vote would be held on Thursday.
Elsewhere, outlets including the Times, Daily Mirror, Daily Mail and the Daily Express all report that President Hollande has issued a “dramatic” plea to MPs, asking them to back UK air strikes in Syria. Mr Hollande, who was speaking at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta, said the Paris attacks showed “man is the worst enemy of man”. He added, “I do hope that the House of Commons will be able to meet the request of Prime Minister Cameron”.
The Daily Mirror says that David Cameron has failed to persuade the British public, highlighting a YouGov poll for the paper, which shows that 48% - less than half – of the British public back UK air strikes in Syria, with 30% saying they want the RAF to stay out of the fight. The article adds that a previous poll, conducting ahead of David Cameron’s response to the Foreign Affairs Committee in which he set out the case for extending air strikes, actually showed greater support, with 59% agreeing the UK should strike ISIL in Syria.
The Defence Secretary Michael Fallon will appear on the BBC Andrew Marr Show tomorrow morning to discuss the issue. Speaking on the matter last week, in the wake of the terrorist attacks on Paris, he said:
France’s fight is our fight… we have to now look at all the options to help join in that fight. The Americans are involved, they would make it clear they would welcome us to help in Syria. The French would certainly welcome it. I was in Ankara with the Turkish government, they would welcome our support. They have ISIL right on their border now. So we have to think again about how we can help hit ISIL harder and that leads inevitably to considering strike operations in Syria alongside the operations the RAF are already conducting in Iraq.
We have made it clear we need the consent of parliament to do this and we need to build that agreement amongst MPs. It’s a new parliament since the vote two years ago. That vote was before ISIL began its campaign and it was on a slightly different issue. But we have to persuade enough MPs that you simply can’t now rule out any military option.
You can find out about the UK’s latest air strikes in Iraq here.
Saudi Arabia
The Independent carries an article which says that Britain is at risk of being prosecuted for war crimes because of growing evidence that missiles sold to Saudi Arabia have been used against civilian targets in Yemen's brutal civil war. The piece goes on to say that advisers to Philip Hammond have stepped up legal warnings that the sale of specialist missiles to the Saudis deployed throughout nine months of almost daily bombing raids in west Yemen against Houthi rebels, may breach international humanitarian law. The article goes on to say that in July, Britain authorised the transfer of Paveway IV missiles from the RAF to Saudi Arabia, with the MoD approving a switch in positions on an order book from the arms manufacturer, Raytheon UK.
A Government spokesperson said:
We do not recognise those comments but HMG takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. We rigorously examine every application on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. Risks around human rights abuses are a key part of our assessment.
The MoD monitors alleged International Humanitarian Law (IHL) violations, using available information, which in turn informs our overall assessment of IHL compliance in Yemen. We regularly raise our concerns with the Saudis, and have repeatedly received assurances of compliance with IHL. It is important that transparent investigations are conducted into all incidents where it is alleged that IHL has been breached, and we are offering advice and training to the Saudis to demonstrate best practice and to help ensure continued compliance with International Humanitarian Law.
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