Burnham warns Cameron not to rush into Syria vote expecting Labour support

Andy Burnham has said that he does not currently “see the urgency” for a vote on UK military involvement in Syria. In an interview with the Huffington Post, Burnham says that ‘big tests’ must be met before he would support invention in the country’s civil war, and warns Cameron that he should not attempt to “bounce” Labour into backing the move by calling a vote in the Commons just days after the new leader is elected.

Outlining legality as a big obstacle, the Labour leadership candidate said:

“The tests are quite big. There’s a very large one about legality first, because it’s not like the 2013 situation. This isn’t an invitation by a democratic government to come in, is it? I’m struggling with that myself.

“I think the legality is quite a big one given Labour’s past, Chilcot. That is something that can’t be glossed over and shouldn’t be.”

There have been rumours that Cameron will recall Parliament over the summer recess to hold a Commons vote on supporting strikes on ISIS in Syria. Government plans to attack President Assad’s forces failed in 2013 after opposition from Labour, but there was cross-party support for airstrikes on ISIS in Iraq a year later.

Burnham said the key to coming to an agreement on this issue was to treat his Parliamentary Opposition with respect:

“The message I would just send back to Cameron at this stage is: treat us with respect because it’s not about the Labour party. The Opposition is the country in this, we’ve got to test what they are saying on behalf of the country.

“And if they try and bounce the Opposition into this they are not treating the country with respect. We had a swirl of gossip, Parliament was going to be recalled and then we hear the first week when the new Labour leader is elected, it’s going to be right back [in the Commons]. Personally, that would be disrespectful to the country.”

He also said that he was taking advice from former paratrooper Dan Jarvis on the matter, but said people expect Labour to “learn the lessons” of previous military interventions, and admitted could see the “urgency” in this case:

“I don’t see the urgency myself. I don’t see the urgency at the moment unless they can convince me why it has to be that week in September. I’m getting excellent advice from Dan [Jarvis MP].

“And it’s advice that is this: we are not scarred so much that we won’t say Labour should play its part where it’s justified, but I think people would expect me to learn the lessons of the last decade and proceed with caution and that’s what I will do.”