Number 10: Ed Miliband wants to divide the nation on Syria

Even if you were wavering over whether Ed Miliband’s decision yesterday to reject the government’s motion on Syria (before it was published) was a political stunt, it’s a little more difficult to see why the Labour leader plans to continue to oppose the rewritten motion when it comes to a vote in the Commons this evening. You can read the full motion here. Number 10 is in no doubt that Labour now opposes this motion on political grounds rather than out of principle. A senior source says:

‘That just proves they are playing politics with this incredibly serious matter. They want to divide the nation on this matter and divide the House of Commons.

‘Ed Miliband is playing politics when he should be thinking about the national interest and global security. He keeps changing his position, not out of principle, but to achieve political advantage.’

Miliband won’t have to try very hard to divide the nation over Syria: Brits already oppose missile strikes two to one.