INTRO:
The UK House of Commons has overwhelmingly voted to authorise air-strikes on Syria after over ten hours of debate.
In the end, 397 MPs.......67 from the opposition Labour Party, voted to support Prime Minister David Cameron's 12 point plan aimed at destroying the so-called Islamic State in Syria. 223 lawmakers voted against the plan.
The vote clears the way for an expansion of British military strikes to Syria…. British war planes already target the group in Iraq. From London, Catherine Drew reports.
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SCRIPT:
Anti war demonstrators gathered yet again in Westminster to urge MPs to vote against bombing Syria. But in the end a motion to extend airstrikes to Syria passed comfortably.
The day long debate began with Prime Minister David Cameron making an impassioned plea for the UK to take the fight to the extremists with an aerial campaign, however without any British soldiers on the ground.
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"The House should be under no illusion. These terrorists are plotting to kill us and radicalise our children right now. They attack us because of who we are, not because of what we do."
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But many were opposed. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn criticised David Cameron for what he called a "rush to war" wanting instead more action on a political solution….and he questioned government claims that up to 70 thousand ground troops were available in Syria to work with the UK once IS forces had been depleted.
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"The only ground forces able to take advantage of an anti-ISIL air campaign are stronger, jihadist and salafist groups close to the ISIL controlled area. I think these are serious issues that we need to think through very carefully. "
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The vote came just 19 days after multiple Islamic state terrorist attacks in Paris left 130 people dead.
The incident dramatically changed the mood in the British parliament as well as in the wider public, and handed David Cameron the votes he needed to bomb Islamic State targets in Syria. Paul Osbourne is a London based political analyst.
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He's got the mandate that he wanted, but it's a big gamble, and if it doesn't work the way he's predicted, if this big international force isn't able to decisively turn the tide against IS, he's going to have some really difficult questions to answer.
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The move will be particularly welcomed by the US and France, whose existing bombing raids reportedly rely heavily on UK drone intelligence. David Cameron also argued Britain's precision missiles will help the coalition reduce civilian casualties.
Now the UK is set to enter another military conflict in the most complex of circumstances. David Cameron has won the argument for now, but the challenges ahead are daunting.
Catherine Drew, sign off, London