Labour Cabinet split as Wes Streeting publicly attacks Ed Miliband for opposing air strikes on Syria in 2013 after Assad used chemical weapons_Nhy
Ed Miliband today insisted he was right to oppose air strikes on Syria in 2013 – despite a Cabinet colleague swiping that it kept the dictator in power.
As Labour leader, Mr Miliband ordered his MPs to vote against David Cameron‘s push to join reprisals against Bashar Assad for using chemical weapons against his own people.
The Tory PM was defeated in the Commons – seen as a big factor in Barack Obama stopping short of action after the Syrian regime crossed his ‘red line’.
Russia then weighed in behind Assad, who was only finally ousted by Islamist rebels at the weekend.
Appearing on the BBC‘s Question Time last night, Wes Streeting – who was not in Parliament then – seemed to agree with other panellists pointing the finger at Mr Miliband.
Defiant Ed Miliband today insisted he was right to oppose air strikes on Syria in 2013 – despite a Cabinet colleague swiping that it kept the dictator in power
Assad was only finally ousted by Islamist rebels at the weekend (pictured, an image of the dictator riddled with bullet holes)
Appearing on the BBC ‘s Question Time last night, Wes Streeting – who was not in Parliament then – seemed to agree with other panellists pointing the finger at Mr Miliband
‘With hindsight, I think we can say, looking back on the events of 2013, that the hesitation of this country and the United States created a vacuum that Russia moved into and kept Assad in power for much longer,’ the Health Secretary said.
‘What I cannot say with certainty – and what we can’t say for certainty even now that the rat has fled to Moscow to his backers – we cannot say that the back of Assad is going to lead to a better Syria yet…
‘We don’t know. It is too soon to judge.’
Mr Streeting scrambled to smooth over the spat this afternoon, insisting he had not been intending to criticise Mr Miliband specifically.
‘I did not criticise Ed. On the contrary, I pointed out the challenges of hindsight, Libya and the uncertainty we face about post-Assad Syria today,’ he posted on social media.
‘It is frustrating, to put it mildly, to see a nuanced answer to a complicated issue presented as criticism of a good colleague.’
Asked during a round of interviews this morning if he regretted taking the position, Mr Miliband told Sky News: ‘No, I don’t … I welcome the fall of president Assad. Back in 2013 we were confronted with whether we should have a one-off, potential one-off bombing of Syria.
‘But there was no plan for what this British involvement would mean, where it would lead, and what the consequences would be.
‘And I believe that in the light of the Iraq war, we could never send British troops back into combat unless we were absolutely clear about what a plan was, including what an exit strategy was.
‘Now to those people who say that president Assad would have fallen if we bombed in 2013 that’s obviously wrong, because president Trump bombed president Assad in 2017 and 2018, so he didn’t fall.
‘So I welcome the fall of a brutal dictator, but I think the view that some people seem to be expressing about history is just wrong.’
Celebrations before Friday prayers at a mosque in Damascus today
As Labour leader Mr Miliband ordered his MPs to vote against David Cameron ‘s push to join reprisals against Bashar Assad for using chemical weapons against his own people
Downing Street insisted the Government’s position on Syria is ‘very clear’.
A Number 10 spokesman said: ‘I think the Government’s position on Syria is very clear. Our priority is the safety of civilians and the peaceful transfer of power. We continue to engage with allies as you would expect and our partners in the region on how to achieve a political solution.’
The spokesman added that ‘obviously I’m not going to comment on something that alludes to a period pre this Government.’
