I suggested in a recent post, Let Slip The Dogs of War, that the oratory in the House of Commons debate about authorising bombing targets in Syria would be uninspiring. Well, Hilary Benn proved me wrong.
The Daily Telegraph, of all papers, said he spoke as a leader of the opposition or a Prime Minister should. The House agreed with this opinion and cheered him to the rafters. Unsettling for Jeremy Corbyn.
I was by no means certain how I would have voted. It is true that there is no plan as to what to do in Syria if there is regime change but if we do nothing ISIS will only gain strength and be more of a menace to us and the rest of the world. On balance, I am in favour of bombing and supporting our allies. However, in so far as I had a vote, I voted against through my Labour MP, Andy Slaughter; what an inappropriate name for this vote.
I do understand why 223 MPs voted against bombing. What I do not understand is why twelve MPs abstained. (Others didn’t vote because they were unavoidably absent or hold positions in which you do not vote by tradition, like the Speaker.)
If I were a constituent of an abstainer I would protest in the strongest terms. It is unthinkable not to be able to come to an opinion on this vote. Here is a list of the abstainers – a list of shame;
Conservatives:
Adam Holloway (Gravesham)
Andrew Turner (Isle of Wight)
Christopher Chope (Christchurch)
John Redwood (Wokingham)
Kenneth Clarke (Rushcliffe)
Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes)
Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough)
Labour:
Jo Cox (Batley and Spen)
Khalid Mahmood (Birmingham, Perry Barr)
Rosie Winterton (Doncaster Central)
Steve Reed (Croydon North)
Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall)
My strong suspicion is that they didn’t want to fall out with their parties by voting against the party line. They should have voted against, alongside strong-principled Conservatives like David Davis and John Baron.