The launch of military action in Syria is a deeply troubling move. And the fact that the timing seems to have been dictated at least in part by a prime minister running scared of a parliamentary vote is little short of scandalous.

By refusing to engage parliament on the issue, Theresa May has shown a contempt for parliamentary democracy, and trampled over an important safeguard against unwanted military action.

As a result, we’ve found ourselves rushing headfirst into striking a foreign nation alongside a trigger-happy US president when there is little evidence to suggest that our actions will make a positive difference, and much to suggest that they could make matters worse. To intervene militarily before Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons inspectors have even been able to investigate the site is also deeply concerning.

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The risks of escalation are real. Only on Friday the UN secretary general said “the cold war is back with a vengeance”. Russia has already threatened to attack the “source” of any missiles aimed at Syria – and I fear mission creep leading to any attempted “regime change” imposed by the west.

Look at Libya, at the rise of Isis in Iraq, at the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan – the long-term impacts of our recent military interventions are a bloody stain on our country’s record.

Syria is a tinderbox, the theatre for proxy wars by numerous different actors, and is already deepening the tensions between Israel and Iran. To drop bombs on Assad without a serious, thought-out strategy, and a plan about what happens next, risks making a horrific situation even worse. Even if early indications are that the regime, Russia and Iran will shrug this off in military terms, they will certainly milk it for propaganda and make the search for peace even harder.

There is, of course, much that we can be doing. We should be cracking down on Russia through further sanctions and pursuing diplomatic channels. It’s worth noting that US sanctions against Russia are finally beginning to have an effect. New US sanctions on seven oligarchs, 17 top officials and 12 companies led to tens of billions of dollars in losses on Russian markets within just a few hours on Monday, and the rouble recently suffered its biggest daily fall in over three years. We now need to double down on these actions.

And Britain urgently needs to get its own house in order if we want to be a positive influence on the world stage. That means ending arms sales to Saudi Arabia, standing up to the aggression of the Israeli government and playing our part as a nation of peace building.

The attacks may have already started, but some semblance of democracy must now be restored.

Theresa May must bring a debate and, crucially, a vote to parliament on Monday – and give MPs an unwhipped say on these strikes.