Britain votes for airstrikes against IS in Iraq

British warplanes are poised to launch air strikes against Islamic State (IS) jihadists after the British parliament gave the green light for military action.

At the end of of a six-and-half hour Commons debate, MPs voted by 524 to 43 – a majority of 481 – to endorse attacks on the militants in Iraq in support of the United States-led coalition, with Labour backing the government motion.

The vote clears the way for RAF Tornado GR4 fighter bombers stationed in Cyprus to begin combat operations as soon as suitable targets are identified.

Opening the debate, British Prime Minister David Cameron told MPs – meeting in emergency session – that Britain had a “duty” to join the military campaign as IS posed a direct threat to the country.

But despite the overwhelming majority in favour of military action, there were concerns on all sides of the House that – 11 years after the invasion of Iraq - Britain was again embarking on military action in the Middle East.

At the same time, there was criticism from both Conservative and Labour MPs that UK air strikes were being restricted to Iraq and that IS targets in Syria - the movement’s birthplace – were excluded.

Mr Cameron said the motion had been limited to Iraq in order to secure cross-party consensus and avoid a repeat of last year’s damaging Commons defeat when Labour combined with Tory and Liberal Democrat rebels to block air strikes against the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad.

However Defence Secretary Michael Fallon later indicated that the British government may well eventually have to come back to the House again to seek support for extending air strikes into Syria.

“Isil is based in Syria, that’s where its headquarters are, that’s where its resources, its people are. To deal with Isil you do have to deal and defeat them in both Iraq and in Syria,” he told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One.

“We are taking this in a calm, measured way, step by step, but it is clear to us that obviously Isil, in the end, has to be tackled on a broader front.”

The timing of the first RAF bombing raids will depend upon when suitable targets can be identified.

The United States has been carrying out air strikes in northern Iraq since mid-August and most of the obvious targets have already been hit.

The strikes are expected to be conducted by the six Tornado GR4s which have been based at RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus since last month where they have been deployed in a reconnaissance role.

Opening the debate, Mr Cameron told MPs Britain should not entirely “subcontract” to other countries’ air forces the task of defeating an organisation which had murdered a British hostage and plotted terror attacks against the UK.

“This is not a threat on the far side of the world,” he said. “Left unchecked, we will face a terrorist caliphate on the shores of the Mediterranean, bordering a Nato member, with a declared and proven determination to attack our country and our people.

“This is not the stuff of fantasy – it is happening in front of us and we need to face up to it.”

Warning of a lengthy engagement, he said it would be a mission that would take “not just months but years”.

“The hallmarks of this campaign will be patience and persistence, not shock and awe,” he said.