Thursday 26th November 2015

(8 years, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton Portrait The Prime Minister
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That is very much what I meant. I think we should be stepping up what is happening in Syria, but given our accuracy, I would expect that, all things being equal, we would be taking the place in some instances of others and therefore the point the hon. Gentleman makes is valid.

Lucy Frazer Portrait Lucy Frazer (South East Cambridgeshire) (Con)
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If each of our allies independently said, “Well, others are involved and therefore we don’t need to get involved”, how would we ever defeat ISIS?

Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton Portrait The Prime Minister
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My hon. and learned Friend asks a very good question, which goes to this moral point: is it really a moral stance to say, “Our allies are taking the action that protects us, so therefore we don’t need to act”? Without getting too deep into moral philosophy, if we take the Kantian imperative, we should be following them rather than standing away from them, because otherwise no one would take the action.