Prime Minister David Cameron will not make a renewed attempt to persuade MPs to support military action against Syria even in the face of a wave of fresh chemical weapons attacks or new evidence, the Chancellor has indicated.
The prospect of Parliament revisiting the issue was raised on Saturday night following US President Barack Obama’s announcement that he is seeking congressional support for a punishment strike on Bashar Assad’s regime.
But George Osborne suggested that even if the facts changed Britain will not deploy military force.
He told BBC 1’s Andrew Marr show: “The Conservative MPs, and there were Liberal Democrats, who couldn’t support us, they have a deep scepticism about military involvement and I don’t think another UN report, or whatever, would make the difference.
“Of course I wanted us to be part of a potential military response. Now that is just not going to be open to us now because the House of Commons has spoken.”
Mr Osborne insisted the country would not think less of the Prime Minister following the Commons defeat, which was unprecedented on a matter of military action in modern times.
The Chancellor defended the whipping operation carried out in the run-up to the vote amid claims it was rushed and shambolic, claiming a number of “sceptical” MPs had been persuaded to back the Government on Thursday.
“What was clear is there is a lot of scepticism out there,” he said. “So it’s not about the whipping or the division bell, it’s about trying to win an argument in the country, in our parliament and trying to do this in a way, frankly different, from 10 years ago with the Iraq war.”
Meanwhile, members of the shadow cabinet would not be drawn on whether they would support military action if the situation in Syria changed.
But shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said if there was evidence that al Qaida elements in Syria had chemical weapons, then David Cameron had “a right” to bring the decision on military action back to Parliament.
Mr Murphy said the Prime Minister’s statement after the vote on Thursday seemed to indicate he had completely ruled out British involvement.
He told Sky News’s Murnaghan programme: “Of course if al Qaida was to get their hands on those chemical weapons, if they were to be really significant developments in Syria and the conditions that we set in our motion on Thursday about it being legal, about the evidence being available, compelling evidence, about a UN process, then of course the Prime Minister has a right to bring that to Parliament.”“Industrial language”Mr Murphy has admitted using “industrial language” after admonishing Michael Gove in the House of Commons following Thursday’s Syria vote.
According to reports, after the education secretary shouted “disgrace, you’re a disgrace” at Tory and Lib Dem rebels, Mr Murphy told him “f*** off you f****** bully” and walked away.
Mr Murphy told Sky News: “I think there was passion on Thursday evening and … all I would say is that I used industrial language that my priest wouldn’t be proud of.”