After days of pressure from MPs from all parties, David Cameron has just announced on Twitter that parliament will be recalled on Thursday and that MPs will be given a vote on the UK’s response to last week’s chemical weapons attack.
Having granted a vote (as was inevitable given the Libya precedent), Cameron now faces the challenge of winning over sceptical Tory MPs and the opposition. As I noted earlier today, Douglas Alexander warned that Labour would be prepared to whip its MPs against military action if it was unpersuaded by the case for intervention. He added that he was “unconvinced” that an air campaign could “decisively resolve” the conflict.
Of the parties, UKIP and Plaid Cymru have so far declared their opposition to any intervention.
Speaker agrees my request to recall Parliament on Thurs. There’ll be a clear Govt motion & vote on UK response to chemical weapons attacks
Subscribe to the New Statesman today for only £1 a week.— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) August 27, 2013
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