Last September, the House of Commons debated the merit and wisdom of sending British servicemen and women into action yet again. The enemy was the same then as it is now and many of the arguments for and against military action were just as familiar. But back then, back in September 2014, parliament was convinced. MPs voted in overwhelming numbers to authorise military action against ISIS in Iraq. 524 MPs voted Yes and only 43 opposed sending the RAF into the sky again.
Then, as now, this was a limited action with a sharply limited set of objectives. As close to a police action as it was to a fully-fledged “war”. But it was not, quite evidently, considered hugely controversial. No-one threatened to deselect MPs who voted the ‘wrong’ way. No-one, or almost no-one, was labelled a ‘warmonger’ for backing the use of high-explosive force. Something, parliament acknowledged, needed to be done.
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