Syria vote? What Syria vote? David Cameron’s strategy is to forget it ever happened

The political conference season may be lacking in party activists nowadays, but it has lost none of its importance to the party leaders. For David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband, the next four weeks are a chance to position themselves for the final, full parliamentary year before the general election. Clegg needs to get his party members to sign off on the policies he has pursued in government, to prevent any manifesto embarrassments. Miliband needs to find an iconic policy which tells voters what his government might be like. Cameron needs to protect his right flank from Ukip, while still appealing to the centre.

But none had planned for the new parliamentary term starting with the eruption of the Syrian conflict on to the British political agenda. A month ago, no one was expecting MPs to have been untimely ripped from their sun-loungers to vote on the principle of military action against the Assad regime.