War against Isis: MPs criticise UK for 'strikingly modest' role in fight against group

The UK is taking part in US-led coalition air strikes in Iraq

General Sir Richard Shirreff has dismissed Britain’s involvement in air strikes and aid drops as “futile gestures” (Getty)

MPs have criticised the UK for its "strikingly modest" involvement in the fight against Isis and accused military leaders of failing to set out a "clear and articulate" plan for the British mission in Iraq.

MPs on the cross-party Defence Select Committee said they were "surprised and deeply concerned" that the UK is not doing more to tackle the threat posed by the militant group.

The committee, which found the UK has carried out just six per cent of the US-led coalition air strikes against Isis targets, is urging the UK Government to play a bigger part in the offensive against the extremist group.

They said the RAF was making a "relatively minor commitment" to air strikes, with eight Tornadoes "of which it seems only two are flying at a time".

However, the report also said it as unacceptable to sign up to a campaign if it was "entirely developed and owned" by the US without any independent analysis.

The MPs said: "We believe it is unacceptable for the United Kingdom simply to 'sign-up' to providing military support for a campaign plan entirely developed and owned by another coalition partner - in this case, apparently, the United States - without having any independent assessment or analysis of the assumptions, detail and viability of that campaign plan."

They suggested stepping up air support for ground operations by Iraqi and Kurdish troops once they were ready to launch major offensives, and said the UK should provide extra training - including in dealing with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) - and help in reforming the Iraqi military.

"Such activities would require only the deployment of a few hundred personnel, the cost would be relatively modest, and it would not entail the risks inherent in deploying UK troops in combat roles," the report said.

Committee chairman Rory Stewart said: "The nightmare of a jihadist state establishing across Syria and Iraq has finally been realised.

"Daesh [the Arabic name for the group] controls territory equivalent to the size of the UK, has contributed to the displacement of millions, destabilising and threatening neighbouring states, and providing safe-haven to an estimated 20,000 foreign fighters, many dedicated to an international terrorist campaign.

"Yet the role that the UK is playing in combating it is strikingly modest."

Additional reporting by PA