Iraq: Coalition Against ISIL Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Iraq: Coalition Against ISIL

David Winnick Excerpts
Friday 26th September 2014

(10 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton Portrait The Prime Minister
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My hon. Friend is right. What we have to weigh up are, of course, the consequences of action. That is why I set up a National Security Council, at which the heads of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, and regularly the head of the Metropolitan police, attend and advise. But we have also got to think of the consequences of inaction. If we allow ISIL to grow and thrive, there is no doubt in my mind that the level of threat to this country would increase. We have already seen ISIL murderers butcher innocent people in a museum in Brussels; we have already had plots here in Britain by ISIL. How much stronger will ISIL be before we decide that we need to take action as well?

David Winnick Portrait Mr David Winnick (Walsall North) (Lab)
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ISIS, indeed, is made up of murderous psychopaths; that is not the issue. We know that. The question is: will what the Prime Minister and the Government are proposing be effective in destroying ISIS? Look at what the House of Commons agreed to: Iraq; Afghanistan; and, under this Government, Libya. None are success stories. Are we going to embark on action that could last for years?