All the business has been cleared from today’s agenda in the House of Commons and the whole day which has been extended to 10pm will consist of a single debate on the motion set out in my last post. This will give 10 and a half hours of time for debate.

Not surprisingly I have received hundreds of emails urging me to vote against military action. It is clear from most of them that the senders appear not to have a full understanding of the situation in the middle east. the situation is extremely complex. I do not pretend that extending our military action across the border from Iraq to Syria will be a solution on its own to the threat from ISIL but it will, in my opinion, on balance, help defeat ISIL and I will vote for it. I should add that I have had some constituents urge me to vote for the motion.

The following is a quote I have given to the media:

I am voting for the motion to extend the military action against ISIL because it is the first duty of government to keep our people safe and I believe that, on balance, extending the military action against these terrorists will help meet that duty. The U.K. is already taking military action against ISIL in Iraq and as ISIL do not recognise the border between Iraq and Syria it does not make sense for the UK to stop action at that border. The action is authorised by the United Nations resolution. Our allies have asked for our help and the planned action is authorised by the United Resolution 2249.