Rather an odd voting choice in my eyes too. It sounds like he was agin it yet for some reason bottled out. You can talk all you like, but we need decision makers in government. Abstaining was the wrong choice imho!
________________________________ From: Damian Walsh <[email protected]> To: leedslist <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, 1 September 2013, 20:21 Subject: Re: [LU] NON LU: Syria Abstension is a cowardly avoidance of the issues and I'm afraid I found the bloke's mail rather self-serving without giving any sense of his moral compass (and look at how he dealt with the Labour amendment.........) Does he believe that force is justified if a line is crossed or does he believe that force is never justified? Both of which are positions to be respected - but sophistry about the UN, or about needing more time or whatever is just the bleating of a "politician" who doesn't want to lose votes. BTW Horrible moral question - have more Syrian or Palestian children been killed over the last few years? (Or Eritrean or Congolese........) Damian On Sun, Sep 1, 2013 at 11:14 AM, John Boocock <[email protected]> wrote: > I thought listers interested in the situation vis a vis Syria and the > recent Parliamentary vote might like to see my local MP's thoughts on the > situation which he emailed out on Friday evening (he has a mailing list for > constituents and I'm on it). John regualrly sends emails out like this on > issues he feels are important to his constituents. Yes I know he is a LIb > Dem but compared to some MPs I have had, at least I feel some sort of > connection to him and although we both disagree on many issues I still > respect the fact that he can be bothered to engage with constituents in > this way. Wearing my Council Chair hat I also get quite good service from > John Thurso so maybe I'm biaised but read this for yourselves eh? > > Betty > > Dear John, > > Events in parliament over the last day have been quite extraordinary and > highly charged. I know the situation in Syria and the possibility of > military action has been a huge concern for many people here in the Far > North and I very much appreciate the emails I have received from people who > have been in touch to let me know their thoughts. I am emailing you now > because I thought you would like to know how I voted in the House of > Commons yesterday and my views having listened closely to yesterday's > debate and now looked in detail at the evidence. > > In my judgement there are two issues to be considered. First in respect of > the specific request to undertake military action against Syria to deter > future use of chemical weapons; and second the wider issue of our > continuing willingness to be involved militarily in a range of countries in > the Middle East. > > There is no doubt that chemical weapons have been used in the civil war in > Syria. The news footage alone is horrific. There is also a strong > probability that they have been used by the Assad regime. This is a crime > under international law and I hope the perpetrators will face justice in > the International Courts. > > It is not however lawful under current international law to undertake > strikes against another state as punishment. It would only be lawful if the > strikes were for humanitarian reasons to prevent further atrocities and if > they were proportionate and strictly limited to that goal. I have grave > doubts that this objective can be met at this time. Certainly, before I > could support such action I would need to have a far greater degree of > assurance as to the objectives and the measures of success. Like many > senior professional military personnel I have seen nothing to persuade me > that there is a clear strategy or that the potential for unintended > consequences has been thought through. When I flew south on Thursday > morning I was therefore determined to vote against any action unless and > until these issues had been properly set out. > > I made these points at our parliamentary party meeting before the debate. > I also listened to the views of colleagues who felt a motion endorsing UN > involvement was essential. I respect those views and would never wish to > vote against UN involvement, but nor would I wish to have voted for a > motion which could be construed as agreeing to the use of military force if > the US proceeds to action without the UK. Therefore together with a number > of colleagues I decided to vote neither for nor against it but abstained. > > There is also a wider issue which is the cumulative impact of multiple > military interventions. In my judgement each further intervention, even if > ultimately acceptable on its own, has to be seen in this wider context. I > believe that as a country because of the many conflicts we have been > involved in over the last decade we have become war weary and are also in > danger of being seen as a compulsive belligerent. I cannot therefore accept > the principle of further military intervention without this being taken > into account. > > The leader of the opposition also put forward a motion yesterday the > substance of which was largely identical to that put forward by the > Government and added nothing to the debate I therefore voted against it. > > Ultimately this whole debate was an error. It may be that both the British > people and international opinion come to an informed view that action is > necessary. That point has not been reached. We need to take the time to > decide these matters calmly. I believe all party leaders made a mistake in > seeking to rush a debate. Parliament has therefore made the right choice > for now. It maybe that the Syrian regime will back off from using these > weapons again, however there is a real possibility they will escalate. I > therefore suspect this debate will continue for some time to come and the > key issue of the consequences of being involved in so many conflicts over > the last few years will need to be addressed in full. > > With kind regards, > ______________________________**_________________ > Leedslist mailing list > Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.**/ > uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist<http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist> > To unsubscribe, email > [email protected].**org<[email protected]> > > MARCHING ON TOGETHER > _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] MARCHING ON TOGETHER _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] MARCHING ON TOGETHER
