Alistair Burt was speaking in a backbench debate on military involvement in the Syrian crisis

Britain should not worry about sending weapons to Syrian rebels because they have promised to give them back when they are no longer needed, a Foreign Office minister suggested yesterday.

Alistair Burt told the Commons that the Syrian National Coalition had made a commitment to stop arms falling into the wrong hands and agreed to “return any such equipment at the end of the conflict”. He was speaking in a backbench debate on military involvement in the Syrian crisis, amid fears that David Cameron would seek to send weapons to the country during the summer recess.

MPs passed a motion demanding that their explicit consent should be sought before committing any lethal support.

While the vote was purely symbolic, ministers have conceded that it would