Burnley MP says Parliament should have had a say over Syria bombing

Burnley MP Julie Cooper has added her voice to the groundswell of complaints in Parliament opposed to the unilateral boming of chemical weapons sites in Syria.
Burnley MP Julie CooperBurnley MP Julie Cooper
Burnley MP Julie Cooper

The Labour MP joined her party’s leader Jeremy Corbyn in criticising Prime Minister’s Theresa May’s decision to undertake military action without Parliament’s approval.

Mrs Cooper said: “The use of chemical weapons is obviously very shocking but Parliament should have had a say on any action we were planning to take.

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“You have to wonder why Theresa May wanted to carry out the action now. There have been 500,000 people killed so far in Syria from conventional weapons but nothing has been done until Donal Trump has said so.

“Would the Prime Minister do the same again we have to ask. Parliament has not had the chance to look at any evidence.”

Mrs Cooper, who was in a packed House of Commons for debates this week, also questioned why only the united Kingdom and France joined the USA in taking action.

The MP also drew attention to the issue of British sovereignty, a key reason many people voted for Brexit.

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She added: “British sovereignty was a key argument for Brexit – that the British Parliament should make its own decisions. Why then was Parliament bypassed this time?

“Bombing only creates more refugees and our record for taking them in is abysmal compared to other European countries. We have taken just 215 to date.”