The debate and vote on potential UK air strikes in Syria continues to dominate broadcast and newspaper headlines. It is reported that the debate in the House of Commons is expected to run through the day, with a vote later this evening. There is also further reporting that the MOD has paid compensation to the family of a civilian killed by British military action.
Syria
Various papers, including the Financial Times, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal and The Sun carry articles looking ahead to the debate and the vote. The Telegraph, The Times, The Guardian, The Independent and Daily Mail carry comments about the number of moderate Syrian opposition. The Daily Express reports on comments made by Defence Secretary Michael Fallon that the threat from Daesh has intensified as attacks have increased tenfold, with the number of attacks rising from 15 last year to 150 this year.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said:
The attacks in Paris brought home this evil organisation to our doorstep. To those who say fighting ISIL will makes us a target, I say again we are already a target. We now need to act against ISIL in Syria, where ISIL is headquartered and hatches its plot against us. Our allies have made clear that extending UK operations to Syria would make a difference.
Compensation
The Telegraph follows a broadcast news piece on the subject of MOD compensation payments to the families of civilians killed during operations. The Government's position on this can be seen in full below.
An MOD spokesperson said:
While military operations are never without risk UK forces strive for the highest level of accuracy, which is why we use precise, low collateral systems supported by thorough intelligence. However, where civilians were proven to have suffered as a result of military action by UK forces in Iraq and Afghanistan it is right that compensation was paid. There is a system in place for handling compensation claims and amounts paid for civilian casualties varied, as they do in the UK, according to such factors as the earning capacity of the victim and family size. Claims would have been refused if the claims officer was not convinced that the alleged harm had actually happened and was caused by UK forces.
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