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11:00PM BST

21st Century Wire says…

LONDON – David Cameron’s march to war in the Middle East hit a wall tonight, as British MPs have voted against ‘possible military action against Syria’ regarding retaliation for last week’s alleged chemical weapons attack in Damascus.

The government motion was defeated 285 to 272, a majority of 13 votes, as MP’s were shouting ‘resign, resign’ in the House of Commons.

In an unprecedented parliamentary reverse over British military action, a shaky Cameron joined the likes of Neville Chamberlain, as unable to manage the support of their own parties.

Cameron lamented, “The British parliament does not want to see military action. I get that and the government will act accordingly.”

Oddly enough, feuding over the last 24 hours between Tory/Lib Dem coalition, and the Labour opposition, may have just saved the planet from ‘a step towards World War 3’…

Tory MPs and ministers were noticeably irritated and upset during today’s Commons debate over Labour leader Ed Miliband’s last minute move that blocked Cameron’s fast track to war. Later in the day, Downing Street accused the Labour opposition of giving ‘succour to Assad’.

Ian Dunt, political correspondent from Politics.co.uk, described the tension during this previous afternoon’s debate best:



“David Cameron couldn’t even bring himself to look at the Labour leader today. As soon as Ed Miliband stood up, the prime minister started flicking through his notes. He did this for minutes on end, until the Labour leader gave way for someone else to speak. Then Cameron would lean his head back on the bench and listen. The body language between the two has never been so poisonous.

Immediately afterwards, Downing Street issued a furious briefing against the Labour leader, calling him “incoherent” and accusing him of “flipping and flopping”.

It was by all accounts, a humiliating defeat, not only for Cameron, but for the Tory coalition government as a whole, and is likely to force Washington to stand down, or go in unilaterally with their own war plans.

Dunt added this evening: “The only possible comparison of a party leader not being able to command the support of his own side in a matter of foreign policy is Neville Chamberlain in the Norway debate of 1940.”

READ MORE SYRIA NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Syria Files

