PM says MPs must decide whether to take on evil or wait for attacks on Britons; Jeremy Corbyn replies that innocent civilians would be killed

David Cameron has told Britain it has a moral and military duty to attack Islamic State in Syria, saying the move will enhance and not hinder a fledgling diplomatic process.

Opening a near 11-hour debate that is likely to end with a majority to extend the British air campaign from Iraq to Syria, the prime minister admitted his case was difficult and complex but said Britain must decide whether to take on the “evil” of Isis in its Syrian heartlands or “wait for them to attack us”.

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Cameron insisted that a military effort was only part of the solution, but said Britain did have an additional and unique military contribution to make due to its precision bombing capability.

The prime minister was repeatedly asked to apologise for saying some of those voting against airstrikes were a “bunch of terrorist sympathisers”, remarks the prime minister made at a private meeting on Tuesday night.

Speaking immediately after the PM, Corbyn directly challenged Cameron to apologise for his remarks. The Labour leader said: “The prime minister’s attempt to brand those who plan to vote against the government as terrorist sympathisers both demeans the office of the prime minister and undermines the seriousness of the deliberations we are having today. If the prime minister now wants to apologise for those remarks I would be happy to give way to him to do so.”

Amid noisy scenes, Corbyn paused to give Cameron a chance to apologise. The prime minister sat still, prompting the Labour leader to say: “Since the prime minister is unmoved we will have to move on with the debate. I hope he will be stronger later to recognise that, yes, he did make an unfortunate remark last night and apologising for it would be very helpful to improve the atmosphere of this debate today.”

Cameron offered no direct apology but said all those voting were doing so honourably, and they all had his respect. “I respect the fact that we’re all discussing how to fight terrorism,” he said, “not whether to fight terrorism.”

The prime minister also insisted ground forces did exist with which western forces could work, claiming the majority of the 70,000 non-extremist forces cited by his intelligence advisers were led by the Free Syrian Army.

He added that there were a further 25,000 extremist forces with which the west could not work. Cameron accepted that some of the troops with which the west would work were far from perfect.

The prime minister has been persistently challenged on the 70,000 figure, and at one point he admitted there were not enough ground troops, and not all of them were in the right place. But he insisted that was not a reason to abandon efforts to tackle Isis, including striking its command and communication hub.

Cameron also accepted that the air campaign would be more difficult than a few years ago since Isis has changed tactics and dispersed in the city of Raqqa, seen as its headquarters.

But he said a diplomatic process was under way with the prospect of ceasefires, opposition groups coming together and even the involvement of the current Syrian government under the auspices of the United Nations.

He said the question for MPs was: “Do we wait for perfection, which is transitional government in Syria, or do we start the task of degrading Isis at the request of our allies and on the advice of our intelligence officials?”

Cameron told MPs: “Isil [Isis] have brutally murdered British hostages. They have inspired the worst terrorist attack against British people since 7/7, on the beaches of Tunisia. And they have plotted atrocity after atrocity on the streets here at home.

“Since November last year, our security services have foiled no fewer than seven different plots against our people. So this threat is very real.

“The question is this: do we work with our allies to degrade and destroy this threat and do we go after these terrorists in their heartlands, from where they are plotting to kill British people?

“Or do we sit back and wait for them to attack us?”

In his speech, Jeremy Corbyn warned that an extension of the air strikes to Syria would lead to the deaths of innocent civilians and would lead to “another ill-fated twist in the never-ending war on terror”.

“For all members, taking a decision that will put British service men and women in harm’s way and almost inevitably lead to the deaths of innocents is a heavy responsibility,” the Labour leader said as he warned that the airstrikes could lead to an increase in terrorism.

Corbyn also asked MPs to consider the “terrible consequences” of wars in the Middle East in the last 14 years after saying: “The spectre of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya looms over this debate. To oppose another reckless and half-baked intervention isn’t pacifism. It’s hard-headed common sense. To resist Isil’s determination to draw the western powers back into the heart of the Middle East isn’t to turn our backs on allies. It’s to refuse to play into the hands of Isil.”

In an attempt to step up the pressure on Labour MPs to support him in opposing the airstrikes, Corbyn said their decision in the vote would be remembered in their constituencies.

“Every MP has to make a decision today. Every MP has a vote today. Every MP has a constituency and every MP should be aware of what constituents’ and public opinion is and they will make up their own mind.”

But Corbyn faced pressure from John Mann, the Labour MP for Bassetlaw who has been highly critical of his leadership but who opposes the airstrikes, to denounce the campaign by some of his supporters to intimidate Labour MPs who support the airstrikes. Corbyn said: “Abuse has no part in responsible democratic political dialogue. That I believe very strongly and that is the way I wish to conduct myself and I wish others to conduct themselves in that way.”

Corbyn was repeatedly asked whether he supported the existing RAF airstrikes against Isis targets in Iraq, which were approved by parliament in September last year. John Woodcock, the Labour MP for Barrow and Furness who supports the extension of the airstrikes, challenged Corbyn who voted against the Iraq airstrikes last year. The Labour leader declined to be drawn in the Commons, saying: “It is not part of the motion today so we move on with the debate.”

Labour sources said Corbyn believes the Iraq airstrikes should be reviewed. But the sources said the formal party position was to support them.

Corbyn ended his speech with a plea for a focus on a political settlement in Syria rather than increased bombing. “Only a negotiated political and diplomatic endeavour to bring about an end to the civil war in Syria will bring some hope to the millions who have lost their homes, who are refugees camped out in various points all across Europe dreaming of a day that they can go home.”

Cameron admitted the case for intervention was complex, but repeatedly said the British government had a responsibility to its allies.



He said British Muslims were appalled by Isis. “These women-raping, Muslim-murdering, medieval monsters, they are hijacking the peaceful religion of Islam for their warped ends. These people are not Muslims, they are outlaws from Islam, and we must stand with our Muslim friends here and around the world as they reclaim their religion from these terrorists.

“Far from an attack on Islam, we are engaged in a defence of Islam. Far from the risk of radicalising British Muslims by acting, failing to act would actually be to betray British Muslims and the wider religion of Islam in its very hour of need. They are trying to kill us and radicalise our children. They attack us because of who we are not because of what we do.”

Cameron said the US president, Barack Obama, and the French president, François Hollande, had both told him that British planes would make a “real difference in Syria just as they are already doing in Iraq”.

He also said it made no sense for the UK to respect the border between Iraq and Syria when Isis did not.

“We have these capabilities that other members of the coalition want to benefit from and it makes absolutely no sense to stop using these capabilities at a border between Iraq and Syria that Daesh simply do not recognise or respect,” he said.

Cameron said there had in fact been a recent incident when Syrian opposition forces needed urgent support against Isis in Syria and RAF planes were “just eight minutes away” over the border in Iraq.

He said: “No one else was close but Britain couldn’t help so the Syrian opposition forces had to wait 40 minutes in a perilous situation while other coalition forces scrambled.

“That sort of delay, it endangers the lives of those fighting Daesh on the ground and, frankly, does nothing for our reputation with our vital allies.”

On the question of whether acting could increase the risk to Britain’s security – “one of the most important questions we have to answer” – he said: “Paris wasn’t just different because it was so close to us, or because it was so horrific in scale; Paris was different because it showed the extent of terror planning from Daesh in Syria and the approach of sending people back from Syria to Europe.

“This was, if you like, the head of the snake in Raqqa in action.”

Cameron announced a comprehensive review to root out funding of extremism in the UK, which would look at the nature, scale and origin of extremist activity, including overseas sources, and would report next spring. He insisted Britain would bring additional military capability to the campaign, saying: “Typically the UK represents a quarter to a third precision bombing capability in Iraq.”