Attack on Syria – Should UK use force?

Daily Telegraph – 30 August 2013

FOR

Liam Fox, former Conservative Defence Secretary:

"Appeasement has never worked to further the cause of peace in the past. It will not now and it will not in the future."

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, former Conservative Foreign Secretary:

"At this very moment, the Assad regime in Damascus are watching very carefully as to whether they will get away with what they have done."

Lord Howard, former Conservative leader:

"We are in danger of allowing the United States and France to act as the conscience of the world while the United Kingdom stands on the sidelines wringing its hands."

Lord Ashdown, former Liberal Democrat leader:

"This is not Iraq. We are not putting boots on the ground, we are not invading … above all, this is not George W Bush, this is Barack Obama."

Richard Ottaway, Tory MP and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee:

"In my judgment, faced with the mass murder of innocent civilians, doing nothing is not an option."

AGAINST

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby:

"International law is based on the Christian theory of just war. Just war theory says that the step of opening fire is one that must only be taken when there is no possible alternative whatsoever under any circumstances."

David Davis, Conservative MP for Haltemprice and Howden:

"It's very simple – when you are going to do things which will lead to the death of people, civilians in particular, you should get your facts right first."

Jack Straw former Labour Home Secretary:

"We all know – I have the scars about this – how easy it is to get into military action and how difficult it is to get out of it."

Lord Hurd, former Conservative Home Secretary:

"We should surely have cleared ourselves by now of that fearful habit of going into military action with our eyes wide shut, of going in without thinking through the consequences."

Dr Julian Lewis, Tory MP for New Forest East:

"This is a powder keg and we should not be lobbing weapons into the heart of such combustible material."