May rejects calls for 'war powers act' after Syria strikes

There were angry scenes in the House of Commons as Theresa May rejected calls from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for the introduction of a "war powers act" to stop the prime minister launching air strikes without first consulting Parliament.

The Labour leader said May had showed a “flagrant disregard” for the convention of seeking authority from MPs for military action after she joined the US and France in mounting strikes against Syrian chemical weapons targets on Saturday.

He called on Parliament to "assert" its authority and said May had "tossed aside" the emerging convention of parliamentary votes for military action, set by the 2003 Iraq war vote because it was "inconvenient".

But the prime minister told MPs it was “right” that she decided on the air strikes, and argued that coming to Parliament “would compromise the effectiveness” of operations and risked the lives of British servicemen and women.

She said: “Uncertainty was a critical element of our attack. If I’d have come to this house, I would not have been able to conceal that. All of this would have put our armed forces at greater risk.”

May went on to tell MPs that while she accepted the principle that elected members should be allowed to debate the deployment of forces, it was not right that this applied to "every possible overseas mission".

She said: "There are situations, not least major deployments like the Iraq war, where the scale of the military build-up requires the movement of military assets over weeks and where it is absolutely right and appropriate for Parliament to debate military action in advance.

"But that does not mean it is always appropriate. It, therefore, cannot and should not be codified into parliamentary right to debate every possible overseas mission in advance."

She added that Corbyn’s proposed "war powers act" would remove “vital flexibility” and “seriously compromise our national security, our national interests, and the lives of British citizens at home and abroad.

"And for as long as I'm prime minister, that will never be allowed to happen."

A 'flagrant disregard' for Parliament?

Speaking as he opened an emergency debate in the Commons on the rights of Parliament to approve the use of force overseas, Corbyn said the emerging consensus to come before Parliament before military action was an important one.

Corbyn said: "The former prime minister [David Cameron] came to this house to seek authority for military action in Libya in 2011, Syria in 2015 and in 2013 sought authorisation for military action in Syria which the house denied.

"I am sorry to say the prime minister's decision not to recall Parliament and engage in further military action in Syria last week showed a flagrant disregard for this convention."

Corbyn added: "It seems the convention established in 2003 and in the cabinet manual is being tossed aside as simply being inconvenient.

"I believe it is necessary and urgent that this house has the opportunity to discuss its rights and responsibilities in decisions on UK military intervention, which is not currently codified by law and which, as we've discovered in recent days, cannot be guaranteed by conventions alone.

"The prime minister's actions are a clear demonstration of why Parliament must assert its authority on this subject."

The debate was unusually rowdy, and Speaker John Bercow was forced to intervene several times to stop the barracking of Corbyn.

The prime minister drew cheers from her benches with her response to a question from Labour MP Karen Lee, who said Donald Trump had the final say over UK foreign policy.

May said: "Let no one in this house be in any doubt that neither I, nor this government, take instructions from any president or any other national government.

"When we act, we act in what we believe to be the national interest, that is our only concern."

May’s response to the Labour debate came after Scottish National Party MP Stewart McDonald accused the government of using top-secret security briefings on Syria to manipulate MPs.

A point of disorder?

Raising a point of order in the Commons, McDonald said: "It's been brought to my attention by several sources that the government has been selectively offering intelligence and security briefings by the prime minister's national security adviser on the current situation in Syria and the UK military response to it.

"These briefings appear to have been offered to members of the Labour opposition not on the basis of privy counsellor status but on the basis of those opposition members who are sympathetic to the government's position.”

When asked about the issue during the debate, May appeared to deny the claims. She said: “Briefings have been offered to all members of the house, not just privy counsellors, subsequent to action.

"Before action, briefing was only offered to opposition leaders."

Following the debate, MPs voted in favour of a motion that said Parliament “has considered” its rights to approve war.

Corbyn directed his MPs against the motion, which he himself put forward, to reflect that the Labour Party wanted to put on record that further debate was needed.