Osborne Defends U.K. Syria Vote, Rules Out Future Action

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne defended Prime Minister David Cameron’s decision last week to call a parliamentary vote on military action against Syria and ruled out further calls for intervention.

“I don’t think the country is going to think less of government or of David Cameron,” he said on BBC Television’s “Andrew Marr Show” yesterday. Lawmakers “were skeptical of another foreign entanglement” and further United Nations reports on Syria would make little difference to that, he added.

Osborne’s support for Cameron in aiming to punish Syria for the alleged use of chemical weapons in its civil war was echoed by Foreign Secretary William Hague, who told Sky News yesterday that while there shouldn’t be “any regrets or recriminations” about the decision to hold the vote last week, another vote was unlikely even if new evidence emerges.

“I don’t think it’s realistic to think we can go back to parliament every week with the same question, having received an answer,” Hague said. “Let me be clear about that. We will respect the decision of the House of Commons. Our support will be diplomatic, political.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-01/osborne-defends-cameron-decision-to-call-british-vote-on-syria.html