It’s safe to say there are some conflicting views in Labour over its fateful decision in 2013 to block bombing of Syria after Assad used chemical weapons on his own civilians. On Question Time last night Health Secretary Wes Streeting pointed out that “if the West had acted faster, Assad would have been gone” and stressed that “the hesitation of this country and the United States created a vacuum that Russia moved into and kept Assad in power for much longer.” A view shared by Middle East analysts and figures including Ed Miliband’s own brother…
Asked on Sky News about the 2013 vote Miliband was defiant about his decision and hit out at Streeting: “The view that some people seem to be expressing about history is just wrong.”
“There was no plan for what this British involvement would mean where it would lead and what the consequences would be, and I believe that in the light of the Iraq War we could never send British troops back into combat unless we were absolutely clear about what a plan was including what an exit strategy was. To those people who say that President Assad would have fallen if we bombed him in 2013 that’s obviously wrong because president Trump bombed president Assad in 2017 and 2018 so he didn’t fall.”
Some might point out that the actual result of our non-action was to stay the United States, and that in 2013 Russia was obviously not entrenched in Syria, as it was during subsequent Trump-led attacks on chemical production facilities which Miliband mentions. Quite recent history, that…
Pat McFadden has famously spoken of his regret in voting according to Miliband’s instruction while Culture Secreatary Lisa Nandy has previously echoed Wes in saying she thinks “there are consequences of actions but sometimes there are consequences of inaction, too. So I really struggle with how the world seems to have just turned away [from Syria].” Many view Lammy, Miliband, and Co’s jubilation at Assad’s fall with a curled lip…
Former leader of the SNP in Westminster Ian Blackford told Times Radio why he believes Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she spent no time in the kitchen and therefore didn’t see any of her husband’s purchases:
“She doesn’t have a passion for cooking.”