LabourList readers back airstrikes – but ground troops are out of the question

Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander confirmed on ITV’s Good Morning Britain earlier today that Labour will be supporting the Government motion for airstrikes in Iraq. In our survey this week, we have found that a majority of LabourList readers back this decision, with 56% supporting airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq:

40%, meanwhile, are opposed to action, and 4% don’t know – although with a seven hour debate prepared for the House of Commons, there is plenty of opportunity today to consider both arguments.

Pursuing airstrikes against ISIL in Syria, which MPs will not vote on today, is surprisingly slightly more popular – although this obviously comes with a caveat. 58% of LabourList readers are prepared to support airstrikes in Syria, but 33% of these will only do so if there is a UN Security Council resolution sanctioning it. Again, 40% oppose:

These figures seem to reveal two things:

1. A large number of LabourList readers feel that ISIL are a threat that needs dealing with – but after the Iraq invasion of 2003 are concerned by the legality of any action. The slightly higher support for airstrikes in Syria seems to come entirely out of the “don’t know” column, and may be attributable to the inclusion of an option that comes with a qualification on legal grounds. Labour’s position is to support the Iraq action because the Government there has called for international support, but could not support action in Syria without a UN resolution.

2. Our snap survey suggests there is a higher anti-war sentiment among LabourList readers than the general public. Polling in this morning’s Mirror shows that only 26% oppose any RAF airstrikes against ISIL, and 27% are opposed to any military action in Syria. The LabourList survey found 40% of respondents oppose action.

In terms of “boots on the ground”, LabourList readers are clear: they do not want any mission creep. Our survey found a 62%/30% split in opposition to deploying ground troops in Iraq, with 8% saying they didn’t know:

Again though, deploying ground troops in Syria commands higher support: while only 14% could support deploying ground troops immediately, a further 23% would after a UN resolution. While a majority still oppose, this drops slightly from the Iraq question to 59%. Don’t knows also dropped, to 4%.

This is a startling turnaround from last August, when airstrikes against Assad’s forces in Syria were being debated in the Commons. Then, LabourList asked readers how Labour MPs should vote – and 77% of you said they should vote against action in Syria.

772 people voted in this week’s survey. Thanks to all who took part.