The UK government is scrambling to deal with the fallout from revelations that British military pilots have been involved in bombarding targets in Syria.
UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon will be forced to make an urgent statement at the House of Commons next week to explain to British lawmakers why they have been in the dark.
The UK government has been secretly allowing UK military pilots to take part in US-led bombings in Syria, which was revealed this week.
A freedom of information request by the human rights group, Reprieve, reveals that about 20 UK personnel have been embedded with American and Canadian forces to conduct strikes in Syria.
The revelation marks a substantial expansion in Britain’s approach to Syria and has caused an outcry among many politicians as MPs in parliament voted clearly against any military action on Syria in 2013.
Now Middle East expert Zayd al-Issa believes that the so-called coalition against ISIL militant group has not really done enough to eradicate the terrorists, but only held them down as a viable threat so that they (the coalition) can uphold their influence in the region.
Even conservative MPs have expressed their anger over the recent revelation. John Baron, who is also a member of the foreign affairs select committee has said that in the least, this shows the government holds an “insensitivity to parliament’s will.”
“Let’s be absolutely clear about this. We voted in 2013, when parliament had been recalled from recess, that there should be no British military intervention in Syria. We were told that No 10 had got the message and that any future intervention would be subject to a vote.
“Here we are learning that we have British military personnel engaged in airstrikes.”
The UK Ministry of Defense has responded to the revelation by saying that “the UK is not conducting airstrikes in Syria. But we have a longstanding embed program with allies, where small numbers of UK personnel act under the command of host nations.”
The current Tory government is reportedly paving the way for a new parliament vote on military intervention in Syria, which it hopes to win by securing Labour support. A vote will not come until this autumn, by which time the opposition party will have a new leader.
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