‘Outrageous’: Ken Livingstone demands parliament vote on Syria military strikes

Ex-London mayor Ken Livingstone sounded a warning to Prime Minister Theresa May as the UK government inches closer to launching military strikes against Syria. Livingstone urged the PM not to act without a parliamentary vote.

On Wednesday, May hosted an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria. “Cabinet agreed it was vital that the use of chemical weapons did not go unchallenged,” a statement following the meeting read. “Cabinet agreed on the need to take action to alleviate humanitarian distress and to deter the further use of chemical weapons by the [Bashar] Assad regime.”



Livingstone told RT’s Bill Dod that May should “absolutely not” act without parliamentary approval. “The last time Britain was considering getting involved in Syria there was a debate in parliament and parliament voted against it. That was very bad news for the then-prime minister [David] Cameron.

"The idea that we should get into war in the Middle East without a vote in parliament being able to debate and make a decision is outrageous. There’s clearly been an attack. What isn’t clear is who did it… until we’re absolutely certain what the truth it, I think [acting] is completely unacceptable.”

Livingstone’s comments come as research indicates that a meager 22 percent of Britons support UK airstrikes in Syria following the alleged chemical attack.