Ed Miliband announces that he's opposed to sending British warplanes to bomb Syria

The former party leader says no post-conflict plan has been outlined

Former Labour leader Ed Miliband (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Labour’s former leader Ed Miliband will oppose the Government’s bid to send British warplanes to bomb Isis in Syria, he has said.

Mr Miliband, who blocked intervention against the country’s Assad regime in 2013, said the militant group could not be defeated from the air alone.

In a statement released on Wednesday during a parliamentary debate on the issue, he argued that the Government has not explained where ground support for the air strikes would come from and said that there had been little in the way of post-conflict planning announced.

“Having listened to today’s debate and the many arguments that have been made, I will be voting against the government’s motion tonight,” he said.

“I will do so because I do not think the case has been adequately made that extending British air strikes will either defeat ISIL or make us safer here at home.

“A strategy for the defeat of ISIL depends crucially on ground troops and a political settlement, or the path towards a political settlement. That is because ISIL cannot be defeated from the air alone, as even supporters of air strikes acknowledge, and because ISIL’s success depends on the vacuum created from a multi-sided civil war.

“Neither an explanation of who the ground troops will be, nor the political settlement we are seeking in Syria, or how we get there, has been provided by the government. We would be going ahead without an adequate road-map or a clear strategy.”

Mr Miliband added that the case had not been adequately made that a bombing campaign would make the UK safer.

In a message posted on Twitter, he said his decision was "finely balanced" and added that "attempts to demonise and target MPs over Syria by some who claim to be our supporters are intolerable and have no place in the Labour party".

MPs will vote tonight on extending action, with the Government expected to prevail thanks to a number of Labour MPs joining with the Tories to support the strikes.

A number of Conservative MPs will however oppose strikes, voting alongside the opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The Government says the UK should not “outsource” its defence to France and the US, who are currently bombing Isis in Syria.

The UK also already bombing Isis in Iraq and the Government says that Isis does not recognise that border.

Moderate and centrist Labour MPs who have said they will oppose bombing include Andy Burnham, Ivan Lewis, and Wes Streeting.

Other Labour MPs who have said they are planning to back the Government’s motion in favour of bombing include Simon Danczuk, John Woodcock, and shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn.