Ian Lucas MP Undecided On Syria Vote
It has been announced Labour MP’s will have a ‘free vote’ on the issue of military action in Syria. Wrexham.com asked local MP Ian Lucas which way he will vote, and why.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has given Labour MPs a so called ‘free’ vote over the proposal that the UK launches air strikes in Syria, with a debate and vote due on Wednesday. National reports say Mr Corbyn wanted Labour MP’s to oppose any air strikes, but has instead been ‘forced to back down’ by his shadow cabinet this afternoon.
Parliament’s definition of a free vote is “…one in which MPs or members of the Lords are not asked to vote a certain way by their party’s Whips. Free votes are allowed, for instance, on issues that are seen as a matter of conscience.”
Mr Lucas’s spokesperson forwarded a copy of a letter he is sending to people who have contacted him on the matter and to Labour party members. The notes his thinking on the issue and states he currently is unsure how he will vote, but assures people he will ‘not be exercising my judgement based upon the internal politics of the Labour Party’.
The letter reads:
I am writing to you to let you know my current thinking on the vote concerning military action in Syria which is likely to take place shortly.
I have not yet decided how I will vote.
As some of you may know, I was the Shadow Middle East Minister for the Labour Party for much of the last Parliament and have followed the tragedy in Syria very closely since 2011. I have visited the region and refugee camps on the borders of Syria and Lebanon and Iraq and studied the region in great detail during that period. I think that the present situation is extremely difficult and the political decision whether to take military action is finely balanced.
It is clear to me that ISIL/Da’esh is a terrorist organisation which has committed atrocities both within the Middle East region and across the world. We have seen UK citizens murdered in Tunisia and, in recent weeks, the murder of French citizens in Paris. The question which needs to be addressed is what action should we be taking and what form it should take?
I take into account requests from Francois Hollande and other allies to take military action but I do ask myself: “What would be achieved by such action and would it add to or diminish the threat to civilian lives in Syria and across the world?” You can be assured that I will make my decision, when I see the motion to be voted upon, using the knowledge that I have and exercise my judgement based upon what I believe to be best for the people of Syria, of the wider region and the defence of the people of the United Kingdom. I will not be exercising my judgement based upon the internal politics of the Labour Party.
In 2003 I voted against the Iraq war, against the Labour Whip, because I believed it was the right thing to do. In 2013 I voted, with the Labour Whip, against military action in Syria because I believed it was the right thing to do. I believe still that both of my decisions on those occasions were right.
I will try, once more, to do what is right and I know, from the correspondence I have received, that there are different views and that not all of you will agree with my final decision.
Mr Lucas ends by thanking all who have been in touch and says he will take account of all correspondence he receives.
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