UK Parliament to vote on Syria strikes on Tuesday

The British Parliament will vote Wednesday on Prime Minister David Cameron’s proposal of the UK joining US-led air strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria.

Cameron called the vote after it emerged that nearly 100 Labour MPs are likely to back the move, giving him enough votes for a parliamentary approval.

“I believe there’s growing support across Parliament for the compelling case there is to answer the call from our allies, to act against ISIL (Islamic State) in Syria and in Iraq,” Cameron had said.

On Monday, Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn allowed his MPs a free vote, handing Cameron the majority he needs to avoid a repeat of a defeat in 2013, when Parliament voted down a motion to launch strikes against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The UK Cabinet is now set to endorse Cameron’s plan to hold a one-day debate followed by a vote on Wednesday.

A motion setting out the UK government’s case will be published later and on Wednesday’s entire parliamentary schedule, including Cameron’s questions, will be cleared to make way for the debate.

A spokesperson for Corbyn, a veteran anti-war campaigner, said: “By refusing a full two-day debate, David Cameron is demonstrating he knows the debate is running away from him, and that the case he made last week is falling apart. Cameron should stop the rush to war to allow for a full discussion of the issues in Parliament.“Matters of national security are far too important to be bulldozed through the House of Commons for political convenience,” the spokesperson said.