PM Cameron: Britain should join Syria air strikes

Prime minister urges MPs to approve ISIL air raids, saying UK should not ‘sub-contract’ security to allies.

Cameron said the UK must expand anti-ISIL air strikes to Syria to deny the group a “safe haven” [Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters]

Britain should join air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.

Cameron attempted to persuade politicians to back action in parliament, arguing the Paris attacks have given new urgency to the fight against ISIL.

The Royal Air Force is part of a US-led coalition attacking fighters in Iraq, but not in Syria.

Cameron said Britain must join the coalition in Syria to deny ISIL a “safe haven” from which to plot mass-casualty attacks around the world.

“I believe that we should now take the decision to extend British air strikes against ISIL into Syria,” he said in a written statement to MPs. “It is wrong for the United Kingdom to sub-contract its security to other countries.”

On Monday in France, Cameron and French President Francois Hollande pledged to step up security measures after the attacks in Paris on November 13 that killed 130 people.

A parliamentary vote on the issue is expected next week.

Earlier this month, parliament’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee said British air strikes would be “incoherent” and ineffective without a plan to end Syria’s civil war.

Cameron replied on Thursday in the House of Commons saying air strikes were part of a “comprehensive overall strategy” to destroy ISIL and end the Syrian war.

Reporting outside parliament, Al Jazeera’s Charlie Angela said thousands of air strikes had been launched against ISIL in recent months and yet the group still remained a force in the region.

“There’s a big question whether Britain going in with air strikes would be all that effective,” she said. “This would be a good move diplomatically but it remains to be seen how effective militarily it would actually be.”