Government now confident of Syria vote passing with Labour support

There could now be enough support among Labour MPs for intervention against ISIS in Syria for the Government to push ahead with plans for a vote in Parliament.

The events in Paris last week mean that a greater number MPs on both sides of the House are now willing to consider supporting military action in Syria, and The Times reports that Number 10 now believes they have enough MPs on their side to win a Commons vote.

There is a contingent of upwards of 20 Labour MPs who will vote for airstrikes in Syria, while a further 20 are leaning towards support but will wait to see the Government’s proposals. At least 12 Tory backbenchers are expected to oppose intervention.

Just two weeks ago David Cameron shelved plans for an attack on ISIS in Syria due to a lack of support from Labour benches, and the likelihood of a a rebellion from his own MPs.

Jeremy Corbyn appeared to make clear earlier in the week that Labour MPs will be whipped to vote against plans for intervention, rather than be given a free vote. This has caused unhappiness with some backbenchers, and as a Commons vote on the issue becomes more likely, there is the increasing chance that they will speak out publicly on it as soon as next week.

Labour MPs open to, but not strongly in favour of, airstrikes, are adamant that the Government must put forward a plausible plan for intervention, which they say was missing from the proposal for action in Syria against President Assad in 2013.

While Corbyn appears determined to oppose any intervention in the Syrian conflict, Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn took a more ambivalent line when addressing Labour MPs at Monday’s meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party. “To those who say that every action we take in Syria would make things worse, well, they are already pretty bad for the people in Syria,” he reportedly told the room.

New ComRes polling for the Daily Mail today shows that 60% of people support UK airstrikes against ISIS in Syria, with 50% supporting the deployment of ground troops – a figure that rises to 68% if UN troops are deployed.