BBC reports:
MPs have overwhelmingly backed UK air strikes against so-called Islamic State in Syria, by 397 votes to 223, after an impassioned 10-hour Commons debate.
Four Tornado jets took off from RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, after the vote. Their destination has not been confirmed.
A total of 66 Labour MPs sided with the government as David Cameron secured a larger than expected Commons majority.
The PM said they had "taken the right decision to keep the country safe" but opponents said the move was a mistake.
...
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn argued that the case for war "does not stack up" - but his party was split, with senior Labour figures, including members of the shadow cabinet voting with the government after they were given a free vote.
The 66 MPs who backed military action was equivalent to 29% of the parliamentary party.
[Editor's Note: For non-Brits, MP="member of parliament"]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by FatPhil on Thursday December 03 2015, @08:30PM
And a professional army's one of the things my taxes are for.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2015, @10:11PM
You should not so quickly dismiss throwing tens of thousands of human lives into a meat grinder just so you can feel safe from an attack every few years killing a dozen innocents in your own country. Those thousands you are willing to send off to die are innocent too.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Friday December 04 2015, @11:04AM
Oh, and don't forget the thousands of people in whichever desert who will get caught up in the fighting. How many hundred thousand civilians died in the Iraq war? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War [wikipedia.org]
Never mind, they have a towel on their heads, they don't count.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Friday December 04 2015, @01:08AM
Is the army for defending a country, or for attacking another country?
Sometimes the best defense is a good offence. This is VERY RARE.