George Osborne has said he personally takes responsibility for the situation in Aleppo and insisted that Parliament is “deluding itself” if it doesn't share some of the blame.

The former Chancellor said Britain failed to intervene to support rebels in besieged eastern districts and others across Syria when it had the chance.

Speaking at an emergency debate help in the House of Commons, the Conservative MP said massacres currently reported to be unfolding had not come out of the blue.

UN says pro-government forces slaughter at least 82 civilians while closing in on Aleppo

“The Syrian civil war has been raging since 2011 and therefore it is something that we should have foreseen and done something about,” Mr Osborne said.

“I think we are deceiving ourselves in this Parliament if we believe that we have no responsibility for what has happened in Syria.

“The tragedy in Aleppo did not come out of a vacuum - it was created by a vacuum. A vacuum of Western leadership, of American leadership, of British leadership.

“I take responsibility as someone who sat on the national security council throughout those years. Parliament should take responsibility for what it prevented being done. There were multiple opportunities to intervene.”

As well as referring to David Cameron’s failed push for air strikes against President Bashar al-Assad following chemical attacks in 2013, he said a CIA plan for stronger support for moderate rebels including “lethal support” was also rejected in 2012.

Mr Osborne said Britain gave other forms of aid, including protective gear and medical supplies, but that there was no Parliamentary backing for the supply of weapons to opposition groups.

In pictures: Aleppo bombing Show all 14 1 /14 In pictures: Aleppo bombing In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Smoke rises after airstrikes on the rebel-held al-Sakhour neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria April 29, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian family runs for cover amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of Al-Qatarji in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on April 29, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A man reacts as he stands on blood stains at a site hit by airstrikes in the rebel held area of Aleppo's al-Fardous district, Syria, April 29, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo The damage of the airstrikes in the rebel-held area of Aleppo on April 28 Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo The damaged the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)-backed al-Quds hospital after it was hit by airstrikes, in a rebel-held area of Syria's Aleppo Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrians evacuate an injured man amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following an air strike on a rebel-held of Aleppo on April 29, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo People inspect the damage at a site hit by airstrikes, in the rebel-held area of Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr AP In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A man leads a woman in tears and child out of the scene after airstrikes hit Aleppo AP In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Civil defence members search for survivors after an airstrike at a field hospital in the rebel held area of al-Sukari district of Aleppo Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian boy is comforted as he cries next to the body of a relative who died in a reported air strike in the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Soukour in the northern city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian family walks amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike in the Bustan al-Qasr rebel-held district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrian civil defence volunteers and rescuers remove a baby from under the rubble of a destroyed building following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrians help a wounded youth following an air strike on the Fardous rebel held neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrian civil defence volunteers evacuate people from a damaged building following a reported airstrike in the rebel-held neighbourhood of Tareeq al-Bab in the northern city of Aleppo

“We all know the price of intervention,” he added, listing the killing, “chaos” and cost of the Iraq war. “We are now beginning to learn the price of not intervening.”

He listed the deaths of tens of thousands of people, displacement of millions more, emergence of the “terrorist state” of Isis, refugee crisis and resurgence of the far-right across Europe.

Emily Thornberry, the shadow Foreign Secretary, questioned whether the Government believed a “moderate rebellion” was still underway in Syria and whether it had a chance of success.

“If not, what end game is the Government now working towards?” she asked, warning that civilians in Isis-controlled cities were “just as vulnerable” to the effects of bombing and siege by British allies as those in Aleppo.

Ms Thornberry, the Labour MP for South Islington and Finsbury, said what appeared to be the final push against rebel-held Aleppo on Tuesday were “hours of shame and disgrace” for the governments of Syria, Russia and Iran.

“And they should be hours of sorrow and deep reflection for every international institution and governments who did not stop this from happening and did not do enough to help the people of Aleppo while there was still time to do so,” she added.