UK cabinet agrees to take action over Syrian chemical attack

Theresa May’s cabinet has unanimously agreed to take action in response to the chemical attack in the Syrian town of Douma last Saturday, but stopped short of specifying the nature of any British role in a military attack. After a two-hour emergency cabinet meeting on Thursday afternoon, during which every minister spoke, Downing Street said they all agreed that the attack in Douma could not go unchallenged.

“Cabinet agreed that the Assad regime has a track record of the use of chemical weapons, and it is highly likely that the regime is responsible for Saturday’s attack. The prime minister said it was a further example of the erosion of international law in relation to the use of chemical weapons, which was deeply concerning to us all,” a statement said.

Although Britain is expected to take part in any military strike alongside its allies the US and France, Downing Street offered no details of any discussion at cabinet of military options.

"Cabinet agreed on the need to take action to alleviate humanitarian distress and to deter the further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime. Cabinet agreed the prime minister should continue to work with allies in the United States and France to co-ordinate an international response," it said.

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Royal prerogative

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has demanded that any military action must be approved by parliament, in keeping with the practice since the Iraq war 15 years ago. MPs have voted twice on military action in Syria in recent years, rejecting it once and approving it once.

Some Conservative MPs argue that the government can use the royal prerogative to authorise a military strike without consulting parliament, which is in recess until next week. However former Conservative chancellor Ken Clarke, who favours military action against the Syrian regime, warned against taking any action without parliamentary approval.

“In a modern parliamentary democracy you’ve got to have parliamentary approval if you have a planned policy decision to launch a military attack. As it happens they would get my support for a proportionate well-targeted attack that was hitting some significant facilities that were associated with the use of chemical weapons. If we don’t do that then Assad keeps trying his hand and he will feel uninhibited.”

Any military action is likely to be limited to air strikes on Syrian military facilities, but Labour's shadow international development secretary Kate Osamor told the House magazine that the Syrian president should be toppled.

Intervention

“That person needs to be removed. I mean, intervention must take place if evidence comes back that the PM or the president or whoever the leader is is gassing his own people. Get them out,” she said.

“I think that’s what needs to happen. They always seem to abscond, end up in another country. This world is messed up. It’s not easy. But if a leader is killing their own they need to be removed. We don’t keep them there. They need to go. He needs to be removed.”