Theresa May's Cabinet today agreed to 'take action' to 'deter the further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime'.

Britain will also act to alleviate 'humanitarian' suffering in Syria.

A Downing Street spokesman did not state what taking action would mean or on what what timescale it would happen.

Last night, Theresa May and Donald Trump spoke and agreed to work 'closely together' on a response.

Mrs May met her most senior ministers for two hours today and the new statement will raise expectations Britain will join coalition strikes against President Assad.

A Downing Street spokesman said: 'Following a discussion in which every member present made a contribution, Cabinet agreed it was vital that the use of chemical weapons did not go unchallenged.

'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.

Tornado jets were being fuelled at RAF Marham in Norfolk today as preparations mounted for reprisals against Syria

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson is thought to have been pushing for action against the Syrian regime

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling and Northern ireland Secretary Karen Bradley attended the Cabinet meeting today

Theresa May, pictured in Birmingham yesterday, is poised to defy calls for a Commons vote on military action in Syria

Attorney General Jeremy Wright (pictured centre left) and Home Secretary Amber Rudd were also at Downing Street for the meeting today

'Cabinet agreed the Prime Minister should continue to work with allies in the United States and France to coordinate an international response.'

Mrs May told her Cabinet that Saturday's gas attack in Douma was a 'shocking and barbaric act which killed up to 75 people, including children'.

The language is a new escalation from Mrs May, who yesterday said 'all indications' were the Assad regime is to blame.

Mrs May is thought to have ordered Royal Navy submarines carrying cruise missiles into range of Syria.

Britain also has squadrons of Tornado and Typhoon jets stationed Cyprus for the war against ISIS.

As expectation of strikes grows, the Cabinet agreed that the Assad regime has a 'track record of the use of chemical weapons' and after a two hour meeting concluded ' it is highly likely that the regime is responsible for Saturday's attack'.

No 10 later said Theresa May and President Trump agreed the use of the weapons should not go unchallenged, and that their future use should be deterred.

A Downing Street spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister spoke to President Trump about Syria this evening.

'They agreed that the Assad regime had established a pattern of dangerous behaviour in relation to the use of chemical weapons.

'They agreed it was vital that the use of chemical weapons did not go unchallenged, and on the need to deter the further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime.

'They agreed to keep working closely together on the international response..'

The Times, meanwhile, has reported that the biggest US air and naval task force since the Iraq War in 2003 is heading towards Syria.

It consists of ten warships and two submarines, with the USS Donald Cook - a destroyer equipped with up to 60 Tomahawk missiles - already in range.

The paper also reported that Russian anti-submarine planes were ready to deploy from the Russian airbase in Syria's west.

Before summoning her ministers, Mrs May insisted the use of chemical weapons must not go unchallenged as calls for reprisals over the atrocity in Douma escalated.

Military chiefs are believed to have ordered British submarines armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles to move within range of Syria.

But a poll has suggested that the public is far from convinced about the military action - with just 22 per cent saying they are in favour and 43 per cent against.

And Mrs May is facing a mounting clamour from Jeremy Corbyn and other opposition parties to bring the issue before MPs. Some Tories including former chancellor Ken Clarke have also demanded a vote.

The situation took another dramatic turn today as Donald Trump appeared to soften his stance on military reprisals.

A hug for his wife as US sends more warships Tenderly holding each other, an American sailor says goodbye to his wife in a scene reminiscent of wartime farewells. Thousands of naval personnel were waved off by their loved ones on Wednesday as they were deployed on a mission to Europe amid preparations for a military assault on Syria. The 6,500 US servicemen and women were part of the USS Harry S Truman battle group that set sail from a naval base in Norfolk, Virginia. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and strike force is on its way for a regularly scheduled deployment to Europe. US Navy Fire Controlman 1st Class Nathaniel Miller hugs his wife goodbye before boarding the guided-missile destroyer USS Bulkeley It is armed with cruise missiles and an array of warplanes. The ship, which can accommodate 90 aircraft and is as high as a 24-storey building, will take more than a week to cross the Atlantic. The USS Harry S Truman’s most recent deployment ended in July 2016, when it carried out an eight-month air operation against Islamic State. Its planes dropped more than 800 tons of bombs on targets from its base in the eastern Mediterranean. On Monday the USS Donald Cook, a destroyer which is armed with more than 50 missiles, was in the eastern Mediterranean within striking distance of Syria. Advertisement

The US president took to Twitter yesterday urging Russia to 'get ready' because 'nice and new and smart' cruise missiles would be coming.

He warned Vladimir Putin not to stand by President Assad, whom he described as a 'gas killing animal'.

But Mr Trump seemed to reel back the rhetoric today, tweeting: 'Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!'

Russia's ambassador to Lebanon has said his country is ready to target US planes and ships if they fire at Syrian regime forces.

That would effectively lead to a state of war, according to Sir Richard Barrons, a senior former military commander.

Labour, the SNP and the Lib Dems have insisted Mrs May must stage a Commons vote before getting involved in military action - even though as PM she is not obliged to do so in advance.

Some Tories have also urged the premier to put the matter to MPs and warned against reprisals, meaning the government's slender majority would be at serious risk.

But there are no plans to recall the Commons from its Easter recess, and No 10 believes approval is not needed to launch a one-off, punitive strike.

Tornado jets at RAF Marham in Norfolk were prepared for a sortie this afternoon as ministers gathered in Downing Street

Air crews at the Norfolk base could be deployed to join RAF colleagues already based in Cyprus if the Government launches military action

One of the jets was pictured returning to the runway this afternoon after a flight in the skies over Britain

Fuel tanks for the Tornado jets were also visible being prepared on the airfield today

The premier has been bolstered by Brexit Secretary David Davis.

Despite voting against military action in Syria in 2013, when David Cameron wanted to respond to another chemical weapons outrage, Mr Davis hinted that he was ready to support it this time.

Asked at a conference in London why he had previously opposed strikes, Mr Davis said: 'One was because he (Mr Cameron) hadn't provided the evidence and intelligence that we knew who it was, and secondly because there was not a proper plan which was thought through properly.

'Those two things I am assured we're going to answer today.'

Mr Davis stressed that no final decision had been taken.

'It is a very, very delicate circumstance, and we've got to make this judgment on a very careful, very deliberate, very well thought-through basis, knowing exactly ... how strong the evidence is,' he said.

The U.S. has maintained its threat of rocket attacks in response to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's sickening chemical attack on the rebel-held town of Douma on Saturday

General Sir Richard Barrons, a former commander of Joint Forces Command, said Russia's warnings that launch platforms could be targeted in response to air strikes meant 'they are going to try and sink ships, sink submarines and shoot aircraft out of the sky - that's war'

David Davis today suggested he is ready to support reprisals on the Syrian regime, despite voting against them in 2013

British officials have been in in talks with their counterparts in France and the US about which military assets should be deployed for military action.

President Donald Trump said that an airstrike on Syria could be 'very soon or not so soon at all' as he took to Twitter this morning

It comes after Trump dramatically escalated the rhetoric yesterday by telling Russia to 'get ready' for military action, adding that 'nice and new and smart' cruise missiles 'will be coming'

'We are committed to deter and prevent the use of chemical weapons,' said a government source.

'We now have to establish the best way of getting there, and those conversations are carrying on, officials are speaking to their counterparts in France and America right now. In terms of precisely what happens next, that is still to be confirmed.'

Some senior ministers have privately been urging the PM to act.

Speaking on a visit to Birmingham yesterday, Mrs May said: 'The continued use of chemical weapons cannot go unchallenged.'

Asked whether she was concerned by Mr Trump's tweet, she replied: 'We are working with our allies, we have been working to get an understanding of what happened on the ground. We are rapidly reaching that understanding. All the indications are that the Syrian regime was responsible.

'We will be working with our closest allies on how we can ensure that those who are responsible are held to account and how we can prevent and deter the humanitarian catastrophe that comes from the use of chemical weapons in the future.'

The poll, conducted on Tuesday and yesterday, underlines the problems faced by Theresa May if she pushes ahead with military strikes

Mr Corbyn raised the spectre of Iraq as he made clear he would not back any kind of military action in Syria. In 2015 he defied much of his own shadow cabinet to vote against aistrikes against Isis in the country.

'Surely the lessons of Iraq, the lessons that came there from the Chilcot Report, are that there's got to be, there has to be, a proper process of consultation,' he said.

'We elect Parliament, we elect members of Parliament. They should have a voice in this. Cabinet on its own should not be making this decision.

'The dangers of bombing now, which could escalate the conflict beyond belief. Just imagine the scenario if an American missile shoots down a Russian plane or vice versa. Where do we go from there?'

Tory former chancellor Mr Clarke called for a parliamentary vote on any military action, telling BBC Radio 4's World at One: 'In a modern, parliamentary democracy, I think you have got to have parliamentary approval if you have a planned, policy decision to launch a military attack of any significant size.

'To say that Parliament is just sidelined before you take such a serious decision is a very retrograde step. It makes parliamentary accountability fairly pathetic.'

Julian Lewis, a Tory MP and chair of the Defence Select Committee, insisted there should be a vote before the UK took action.

'There is a real danger that what starts out as justified punishment for the use of chemical weapons ends up with the Royal Air Force serving as the air arm of the jihadi extremist rebels in Syria,' he said.

'It sends a very bad signal to the country that they don't submit themselves to parliamentary scrutiny before involving in taking military action by choice in the context of a civil war where both sides equally atrocious.'

Mrs May has said Britain will co-ordinate its response to the incident in the rebel-held town of Douma - where at least 40 people are reported to have been killed - with the US and France

Tory colleague Bob Seely said: 'Trump is declaring war on Twitter. Both Trump and Putin need to remember what the stakes are.

'This crisis could escalate very quickly into a shooting war in Syria. If Russians are injured, the Kremlin will hit back. The most important thing our generation can achieve is to avoid actual conflict with Russia.

'If we are reckless or thoughtless in our actions, it will make conflict now or in future more likely to happen.'

Russia's ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkin, said any US missiles fired at Syria would be shot down along with the ships or planes that fired them.

He told Hezbollah's Al Manar TV: 'If there is a strike by the Americans then ... the missiles will be downed and even the sources from which the missiles were fired.'

Then, in the early hours of yesterday morning, Mr Trump responded on Twitter, saying: 'Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and smart! You shouldn't be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it.'

In a further tweet 40 minutes later, he said: 'Our relationship with Russia is worse now that it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War.

'There is no reason for this. Russia needs us to help with their economy.'

Russia's foreign ministry spokesman responded by saying 'smart missiles should fly towards terrorists, not lawful government'.

General Barrons, who led the UK's joint forces command until 2016, said of the Russian ambassador's warning: 'He is saying not only are they going to shoot down the missiles in flight, but by saying launch sites, he is saying they are going to try and sink ships, sink submarines and shoot aircraft out of the sky. That's war.'

Charles Crawford, former British Ambassador to Bosnia, warned the range of options for dealing with the crisis varied between 'terrible and catastrophic'.

Britons nervous about joining strikes on Syria, poll finds Britons do not support getting involved in air strikes against Syria, according to a poll. Some 43 per cent are against the UK joining in the reprisals over the apparent chemical weapons attack in Douma. The idea was backed by 22 per cent, the research by YouGov for The Times found. A further 34 per cent said they were unsure of the best course of action. The poll, conducted on Tuesday and yesterday, underlines the problems faced by Theresa May if she pushes ahead with military strikes. YouGov interviewed 1,600 people. The level of support was lower than the 25 per cent who endorsed David Cameron's desire to launch airstrikes in 2013 - when he lost a Commons vote on the issue. Advertisement