02/09/2013

Deputy PM Rules Out Second Syria Debate

Following comments by London Mayor Boris Johnson that MPs could be asked to vote a second time on military action in Syria, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said that he could not "foresee any circumstances" under which such a vote would take place.

Johnson had argued in his Daily Telegraph column that he saw "no reason" why "better evidence" regarding the suspected gas attack in Syria wouldn't lead to another debate on a possible military response by Britain.

However, Clegg said that the government would respect the first vote cast by Parliament, insisting that the issue would not "go back" to the House of Commons.

A poll conducted by the BBC over the weekend, revealed that three quarters of the 1,000 people asked believed that MPs were right to not back military action in Syria.

A report is due from UN weapons regarding the suspected attack and who may have carried it out.

In other news, President Obama announced that he would ask Congress to vote on the US carrying out its own military response against the Assad government. Congress do not return from their summer recess until 9 September.

(MH/JP)

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