The British parliament will be recalled this Friday to discuss whether the UK should join US-led airstrikes against ISIS. House of Commons Speaker John Bercow approved the request from Prime Minister David Cameron for the recall this afternoon.
Parliament is currently in recess while the main parties hold their annual conferences.
It is widely expected that a vote will be held on UK involvement in air strikes, and that the vote will pass. Junior coalition partners the Liberal Democrats have already pledged their support, while Labour leader Ed Miliband is highly likely to back military intervention.
Cameron, who is currently in the US tweeted:
I have requested that Parliament be recalled to debate the UK response to the Iraqi Govt’s request for support against ISIL.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) September 24, 2014
Which he then followed with:
The Speaker has accepted my request to recall Parliament on Friday.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) September 24, 2014
The BBC reports that Cameron later confirmed that any UK military involvement will not involve ground troops: “What we are doing is legal and it is right. It does not involve British combat troops on the ground.”
He added: “When we are threatened in this way, we should not turn away from what needs to be done”.
He also confirmed that air strikes will only be in Iraq, saying: “If there was a question of taking action against Isil in Syria, it would be a separate parliamentary debate. I want to be very clear about that.”
The government suffered a humiliating defeat last year when Parliament voted against military intervention against the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad.
Given the cross-party support for the current plans, however, it is unlikely that Friday’s vote will fail.
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