Senior politicians have so far been rather cautious in their response to the Paris attacks. But today David Cameron gave a much more robust and intentional statement on the British reaction to what happened on Friday night. He used his slot in the Commons to re-state the case for British involvement in military action against Islamic State in Syria, and said that he would be setting out in detail his strategy and reasons for getting involved in the coming days. It is clear that the Prime Minister wants to push for a vote on this soon, and given he will not bring a vote to the Commons unless he believes he can win, he’s going to pour considerable effort into convincing MPs to back him.
Cameron told MPs that ‘we should be doing more’ and that ‘I’ve always said there is a strong case for us doing so and the case for doing so has only grown stronger’. He will respond personally to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee report on the case for British involvement in Syria, saying he understood the concerns of the committee and MPs about ‘what difference would action by the UK make’.
Update, 12.55pm: Jeremy Corbyn took a measured tone in his response, asking the Prime Minister to confirm that he would be responding in detail to all questions set out in the select committee report on Syria. The Labour leader did focus rather more on policing and community relations in his speech, which fits with the general party response, and also allows him to avoid provoking his own MPs on Syria before it becomes necessary. Cameron’s answers to the questions Corbyn raised were polite and consensual: neither man was keen to set up conflict on this matter today at least.
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