Like many, many people of all faiths, political hues and none, I am strongly opposed to, and dismayed by, the likely decision to start bombing Syria. If you happen to do Facebook and are a Baptist type, there is an online petition thingy you might want to look at here. This is a grass roots Baptist repsonse, not from the BUs of these islands, though they are quietly endorsing by social media links...
I don't tend to put political (as in formal parliamentary/council) stuff here, but this post from Facebook by an MP I do not know (except he seems to be Labour) deserves to be read more widely.
From Wes Streeting MP via facebook (public post)
This has certainly been the worst day I've experienced in Parliament since my election. It's come in stark contrast to every other day because I can - hand on heart - say that I love my job and every aspect of it. How many of us are lucky enough to say that?
The atmosphere in Parliament is febrile. Tempers are fraying and even good friendships strain as people debate the right course of action in a conflict that is deeply complex.
I felt very let down by the Prime Minister tonight, when the media reported that he told the Conservative backbenchers' committee (known as the 1922 Committee) not to "walk through the lobbies with Jeremy Corbyn and a bunch of terrorist sympathisers". I have lived in this city, which has endured terrorism, all my life. This is a deep insult to MPs from all parties who have very serious concerns about the strategy that the Prime Minister set out last week - in a far more dignified way than he behaved tonight. This is not the way I'd expect any Prime Minister to behave in these circumstances.
I'm also upset at the way in which MPs who plan to support air strikes are being treated. I wrote before about some of the nasty tactics against some of my Labour colleagues, but there seem to be many people who believe that anyone voting for air strikes is unthinking or unprincipled. Let me assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. On an issue like this, we all weigh the evidence, we all search our consciences and we all do what we believe to be right. Opponents of air strikes do not have a monopoly on wisdom or conviction.
I bumped into someone this evening who has been working in foreign affairs for decades and he couldn't tell me with certainty what the right answer to Syria is. I felt reassured, because I've spoken to people who are 100% sure that air strikes are right and those who are 100% sure they're wrong. On the eve of tomorrow's vote, I both envy that certainty and find it unnerving.
This afternoon I added my name to a cross-party amendment opposing air strikes in these circumstances (see below). Tomorrow, I will support the amendment and oppose the government's strategy for air strikes.
However difficult today has been is nothing compared to a day in Syria. Whatever the decision tomorrow, I pray it's the right one. It is one that will rest heavily on our consciences.
