Audio: Cameron, Clegg and Miliband on Syria and what their statements tell us

David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband this afternoon gave statements on Britain’s response to the use of chemical weapons in Syria. There were important similarities between the statements which are worth examining. Here is what we learned:

1. The action must be legal.

Miliband told the cameras after the meeting that ‘when I saw the Prime Minister this afternoon I said to him that we the Labour party would consider supporting international action, but only on the basis that it was legal’. Meanwhile Clegg and Cameron both insisted that the measures being considered were legal. Clegg said:

‘Any steps we will take will have to be legal. This Government, this Coalition Government, of course is not going to act outside the remit of international law’.

2. The action must be proportionate.

Miliband made clear that there would have to be clear limits to the action, while Cameron and Clegg both used the same words to describe the nature of the action.