Stroud politicians make passionate cases for and against UK airstrikes against IS in Syria

In the wake of the Paris terror attacks the matter continues to sharply divide UK politics, with a Commons vote on whether to go to war expect next week.

Prime Minister David Cameron will appear before parliament on Thursday to set out a "full-spectrum" strategy - including military, counter-terrorism and humanitarian actions.

The government has said it will only call a vote when it is sure to win, but there is speculation in Westminster that more MPs have shifted in favour of British military intervention against IS.

Stroud MP Neil Carmichael has long been in favour of extending air strikes alongside diplomatic efforts, voting for UK military action against President Bashar al-Assad's government two years ago.

Setting out a case for action in light of the Paris attacks in his SNJ column this week, he condemned Islamic State as a ‘brutal, soulless and totally intolerant regime’.

“Nobody can now seriously doubt the need to defeat this threat to the civilised world,” he said.

“The situation in Syria is of central relevance to the immediate crisis. This is why action must be taken to restore effective governance and a working economy through defeating the IS and rebuilding a new Syrian state.

“Through a coordinated combination of international aid, military action and political activity, this still can be done.”

He added that he would only vote for airstrikes next week if the PM’s argument includes an assessment of how the country can be led to ‘peace and reconstruction’ - and the return of the displaced Syrian refugees.

While an increasing number of Tory MPs now looks set to back the vote, Labour remains markedly split over the issue.

Opinion within Stroud Labour Party is that air strikes alone cannot resolve the situation and could even worsen matters.

It said that any intervention “could only be justified if it is part of a clear, consistent policy that will deal with the threat from ISIS in the Middle East and globally.

“At present that does not appear to be the case. Furthermore there must be a clear exit strategy which was missing in the Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya campaigns.”

Dick Greenslade chairman of Stroud constituency Labour Party, added: “My personal view is that such action must not be a knee jerk reaction to the tragic events in Paris.

“There must eventually be a political solution and one imperative is to give full support to the multilateral talks taking place in Vienna.”

But while growing number of Labour MPs now appear to be tipping the tables on the side of intervention, party leader Jeremy Corbyn and his allies remain adamantly opposed to war.

Green district councillor John Marjoram (Trinity) has been involved with the international anti-war movement for more than 50 years.

“From a policy and a morality stance, the Greens are totally opposed to bombing Syria as we were against military action in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya,” he said.

“These attacks have destabilised most of the Middle East. Many would argue that had there been no deliberately ‘contrived’ wars on our part, then Isis wouldn’t exist.

“Our tragedy is that we never seem to remember the implications of war. We repeat our pattern time after time. “Lacking the capacity to move on we invent ever more lethal weapons, nearing ourselves to world annihilation with nuclear weapons. There is a saying - “Peace takes courage, War takes lives.”

“The Green’s view both here and internationally, is that it is naïve to believe you can defeat terrorism by bombing: all you do in these situations is create further misery, hatefulness and a desire for revenge. This is exactly what Isis and other terrorist organisations breed on.

“If we want to defeat terrorists, we have to ‘follow the money’. We have to stop their sources of finance as well as their access to the arms trade.

“Finally, I find repulsive the fact that we can always find enough money to fund a Blair or Cameron type war.

“The government is quick to commit £12bn extra, while people are sleeping rough in this country.”

Lizzie Fletcher, co-organiser of campaigning group 38 Degrees Stroud, spoke from an apolitical stance.

“We at 38 Degrees all believe in a peaceful solution to this situation,” she said.

“We appreciate that the situation sometimes requires urgent intervention. However we stand united against violence wherever it is perpetrated and whoever instigates it, be that terrorists or governments.”

“What has been proven about the origin of these attacks that are prompting our suggested armed response?” she asked. “So far the origin has been in many countries including the most recent, Belgium and France - not Syria.

“Whoever holds the gun or the bomb becomes the terrorist.”