Boris Johnson has signalled the UK could join any US military action against Syria without parliamentary approval, prompting an outcry from politicians from across the spectrum.
Johnson said he and the prime minister agreed that in the event of another chemical attack by the Assad regime, it would be hard for the UK to refuse any request from the US to join airstrikes.
“If the United States has a proposal to have some sort of action in response to a chemical weapons attack, and if they come to us and ask for our support, whether it is with submarine cruise missiles in the Med or whatever it happens to be, in my view, and I know this is also the view of the prime minister, it would be very difficult for us to say no,” told the BBC.
Asked if any UK strikes against Syria would need approval from the Commons, Johnson said: “I think that needs to be tested. How we exactly implement that would be for the government and for the prime minister to decide. But if the Americans were once again forced by the actions of the Assad regime ... and they asked us to help, it would be very difficult to say no.”
Donald Trump this month ordered an attack on a Syrian airbase believed to have been used to launch a chemical attack on 4 April. Johnson’s comments signal Britain’s willingness to be involved in any future similar action.
But Theresa May declined to back up Johnson three times when pressed by reporters at a rally in Leeds on Thursday night. “This is a hypothetical issue because there are no proposed strikes on Syria on the table,” she said. “What is in important in Syria is we ensure we are working towards the future stability of Syria, and a transition from President Assad.”
May said Johnson had been “leading diplomatic efforts to speak to the Russians to say that they should not be supporting Assad, who is murdering his own people” and said that a political transition, with Russian support, was the route forward.
Asked again on whether the UK would join strikes in the event of another chemical weapons attack, May said: “There are no further strikes on the table.”
May said Johnson was “doing a great job” as foreign secretary though she would not commit to keeping him in post after the June election.
Earlier, the Liberal Democrats and SNP called on Johnson to ensure MPs were consulted before the government decided to takes any military action at the behest of the US president.
Jeremy Corbyn said he did not see how more bombing would help and urged the foreign secretary to seek a political solution. “We don’t need unilateral action,” the Labour leader told the BBC. “We need to work through the UN, but above all we need to bend ourselves totally to getting a political settlement in Syria.”
The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron, said it was “terrifying that the Conservatives are increasingly beholden to Donald Trump”.
He said: “Critically, the government must seek the consent of parliament. Gone are the days where a prime minister can take us to war without democratic backing unless in exceptional cases of national security. May would be wise not to use the cover of an election to push this through.”
Alex Salmond, the Scottish National party’s foreign affairs spokesman in Westminster, called for a motion on Syria to be debated in parliament before it broke up for the election.
Salmond said Johnson’s remarks were “not only significant, they are also dangerous” and that the government had no authority for military action against the Syrian regime.
During his morning interviews, Johnson sought to make a political point of contrasting the government’s resolve with Corbyn’s hesitation on military questions. The foreign secretary said: “There is a real risk that the government of a very great country could be handed over to a guy who has been hostile to Nato all his political career ... who would disarm us of nuclear weapons, and a guy who has said he would not advocate a shoot-to-kill policy in the event of an Islamist terrorist putting innocent people’s lives at risk.”
Britain is currently carrying out airstrikes in Syria and Iraq against Islamic State terrorists but has taken no military action against the Assad regime after it carried out suspected chemical weapons attacks. MPs backed the action against Isis in a December 2015 Commons vote but rejected strikes against the Assad regime in 2013.
David Davis, the Brexit secretary, Julian Lewis, the chairman of the Commons defence committee, and Crispin Blunt, the chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, were among the 30 Conservative MPs to rebel against David Cameron’s motion at the time
