UK MPs vote overwhelmingly for ISIS airstrikes in Iraq

  September 26, 2014 09:40

MPs have voted to back Britain joining US-led airstrikes on Islamic State in Iraq in a vote on Friday. Attacks could begin within days, as ministers admit that UK military intervention could last two or three years.

MPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of strikes against Islamic State (also known asISIS, or ISIL), with 524 voting for and 43 voting against.
 
Britain’s three biggest parties, coalition government partners the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, plus the opposition Labour party, all officially backed the bombing campaign. The government insisted the intervention was legal under international law because it was requested by the Iraqi prime minister.
 
The motion did not propose any UK involvement in airstrikes in Syria, where a US-Arab coalition began bombing IS militants on Tuesday. A year ago, British MPs rejected airstrikes on Syria to oppose the government of President Bashar Assad.

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