Syria

During the early years of the civil war in Syria, I argued in Parliament against arming rebel forces and, by sponsoring a debate and vote in the House of Commons in July 2013, ensured with others that the Government could not provide lethal support to any force in Syria without first obtaining the approval of Parliament.

In September 2013 I wrote an article for the Daily Mail in which I explained why I voted against the Government’s motion in August. The Government lost this vote, and therefore there were no military strikes against the régime of al-Assad. I believed that Western military action would be counter-productive, which is why I also voted against air strikes in Syria in December 2015.

For more information about the way I see the world, please visit the ‘Foreign Affairs’ page of this website.