Month: December 2019

37 Labour MPs Walked Away with Syrian Blood on Their Hands

sYRIA BOMBS

More than half the Labour members who voted to bomb Syria in 2015 are no longer Labour MPs

ONE post-election revelation may surprise members and supporters of the Labour Party.

Just seven days after the General Election defeat it can be revealed that 37 of the 66 Labour MPs (56%) who supported David Cameron’s demand to bomb Syria in a Commons Motion on 2nd December 2015 are NO LONGER Labour MPs.

They have quite literally walked away from responsibility with the death of thousands on their hands.

The 2015 debate and vote on whether to extend British bombing of Isis into Syria was high profile and controversial for many reasons.

Labour MPs were given a free vote and allowed to vote according to their views. Most – including the majority of the Shadow Cabinet – opposed the bombing, in line with Jeremy Corbyn.

David Cameron won the Syria airstrikes vote by majority of 174.

But 66 Labour MPs voted with the Conservatives in support of the strikes. When the votes were counted MPs voted 397 to 223 in favour of sending RAF Tornados into the skies over Syria.

Corbyn was forced by divisions in his party to give his MPs a free vote, and a majority of his MPs and nearly half the shadow cabinet opposed the airstrikes.

But his foreign affairs spokesman, Hilary Benn, prompted applause from the Government benches when he gave an impassioned speech in favour of the bombing.

The debate was one of the first tests of Corbyn’s leadership and the voting publically showed those MPs who were prepared to go against him.

The bombing of Syria by US and UK planes between 2014 and 2019 has led to over 14,000 deaths on the ground – including an estimated 3,800 innocent civilians.

Now, exactly four years since that controversial House of Commons vote, it can be revealed that more than half of those pro bombing Labour MPs have gone.

While 10 of them lost their seats in last week’s General Election, the other 27 left Labour for other opportunities either in business or as members of centrist neo-liberal parties.

The full list is:

  1. Adrian Bailey (West Bromwich West) STOOD DOWN AS MP IN 2019
  2. Alan Campbell (Tynemouth)
  3. Alan Johnson (Kingston upon Hull West & Hessle) STOOD DOWN AS MP IN 2017
  4. Alison McGovern (Wirral South)
  5. Angela Eagle (Wallasey)
  6. Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge) LEFT FOR TIG
  7. Anna Turley (Redcar) LOST SEAT IN 2019
  8. Ann Coffey (Stockport) LEFT FOR CHANGE UK
  9. Ben Bradshaw (Exeter)
  10. Bridget Phillipson (Houghton & Sunderland South)
  11. Caroline Flint (Don Valley) LOST SEAT IN 2019
  12. Colleen Fletcher (Coventry North East)
  13. Chris Bryant (Rhondda)
  14. Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) LEFT FOR TIG
  15. Chuka Umunna (Streatham) LEFT FOR TIG
  16. Conor McGinn (St Helens North)
  17. Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central)
  18. Emma Reynolds (Wolverhampton North East) LOST SEAT IN 2019
  19. Frank Field (Birkenhead) LEFT TO BE INDEPENDENT
  20. Gareth Thomas (Harrow West)
  21. Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) STOOD DOWN AS MP IN 2017
  22. Gloria De Piero (Ashfield) STOOD DOWN AS MP IN 2019
  23. George Howarth (Knowsley)
  24. Geoffrey Robinson (Coventry North West) STOOD DOWN AS MP IN 2019
  25. Graham Jones (Hyndburn) LOST SEAT IN 2019
  26. Harriet Harman (Camberwell & Peckham)
  27. Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East) STOOD DOWN AS MP IN 2018
  28. Helen Jones (Warrington North) STOOD DOWN AS MP IN 2019
  29. Hilary Benn (Leeds Central)
  30. Holly Lynch (Halifax)
  31. Ian Austin (Dudley North) LEFT TO TAKE UP JOB WITH THE TORIES
  32. Jamie Reed (Copeland) STOOD DOWN AS MP IN 2017
  33. Jenny Chapman (Darlington) LOST SEAT IN 2019
  34. Jim Dowd (Lewisham West) STOOD DOWN AS MP IN 2017
  35. Jim Fitzpatrick (Poplar & Limehouse) STOOD DOWN AS MP IN 2019
  36. Joan Ryan (Enfield North) LEFT FOR CHANGE UK
  37. John Spellar (Warley)
  38. John Woodcock (Barrow and Furness) STOOD DOWN AS MP IN 2019
  39. Keith Vaz (Leicester East) STOOD DOWN AS MP IN 2019
  40. Kevan Jones (North Durham)
  41. Kevin Barron (Rother Valley) STOOD DOWN AS MP IN 2019
  42. Liz Kendall (Leicester West)
  43. Louise Ellman (Liverpool Riverside) LEFT TO BE INDEPENDENT
  44. Luciana Berger (Liverpool Wavertree) LEFT FOR TIG
  45. Lucy Powell (Manchester Central)
  46. Margaret Beckett (Derby South)
  47. Margaret Hodge (Barking)
  48. Maria Eagle (Garston and Halewood)
  49. Mary Creagh (Wakefield) LOST SEAT IN 2019
  50. Michael Dugher (Barnsley East) STOOD DOWN AS MP IN 2017
  51. Neil Coyle (Bermondsey & Old Southwark)
  52. Pat McFadden (Wolverhampton South East)
  53. Peter Kyle (Hove)
  54. Phil Wilson (Sedgefield) LOST SEAT IN 2019
  55. Ruth Smeeth (Stoke on Trent North) LOST SEAT IN 2019
  56. Simon Danczuk (Rochdale) RESIGNED FROM LABOUR IN 2017
  57. Siobhain McDonagh (Mitcham and Morden)
  58. Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth)
  59. Stella Creasy (Walthamstow)
  60. Susan Elan Jones (Clwyd South) LOST SEAT IN 2019
  61. Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South) STOOD DOWN AS MP IN 2017
  62. Tom Watson (West Bromwich East) STOOD DOWN AS MP IN 2019
  63. Tristram Hunt (Stoke-on-Trent Central) STOOD DOWN AS MP IN 2017
  64. Vernon Coaker (Gedling) LOST SEAT IN 2019
  65. Wayne David (Caerphilly)
  66. Yvette Cooper (Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford)