The events of the last 24 hours in the UK appear to be better news for Syria than I had imagined yesterday. It remains to be seen if a much more resolute UK Parliament can stay the hand of America in a way that many of us hoped on 15th February 2003 when we walked in London to express our horror at the unfolding plans for Iraq. The logic being that if our Politicians accepted this expression of widespread opposition to military action in good faith, that Blair might use the will of the British People to argue for waiting not only for the end of the weapons inspections, but also for the 2nd UN resolution.

The return from holiday by the PM and recall of Parliament this morning has all happened a great deal quicker than the events that precipitated the invasion of Iraq, but of course the intentions here is for something that at least in the early stages will not lead to ‘boots on the ground’. However no one expected the Great War to last till Christmas, and the expectations for Iraq II were that not a shot would be fired!. The words of Ban Ki Moon in arguing for more time for the weapons inspectors and by implication for the UN itself have been very welcome, just as the many speeches of Kofi Annan were a decade ago. There have been some very noticeable differences between 2003 and today. The first is that the Government is a coalition and the majority party does not have the same electoral power that the Labour Government of 2003 did with its 412 MPs. Nevertheless it was very encouraging that although David Cameron initially refused to change todays motion, that once he had done his sums and had time to reflect with his advisers, that William Hague was able to speak so openly about the U turn. The strong hand played by the Labour party in arguing for the weapons inspectors and UN to be given time is very welcome, Ed Miliband deserves credit for his leadership however the parties spin this in the end. The amendment by Caroline Lucas and some Labour and Plaid Cymru MPs is also very helpful as we try to understand what our Parliamentarians are telling us about how they see our role in a world where some other Governments are doing appalling things to their own people. It is worth considering how a coalition with a number of small parties and perhaps in the future some Independent MPs means that any Government will have to work a great deal harder than in 2003 to persuade Parliament to undertake such an ‘adventure’. However clearly there are two sides to that reflection.

The issue of who killed and maimed the people in this latest chemical attack and who crossed President Obamas red line is a great deal less clear to those of us who ultimately must pay for the decisions that are taken on our behalf. Todays debate should provide us all with more information to help us understand this conflict and if there is any prospect of stopping all of the killing. It is clear from social media, many people have been asking their MPs how they will vote today, we perhaps need to see some effort by our representatives to better understand our views and opinions, and to show that they are taking these on board in future debates and votes.