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Parliament TV
World News

Christian MP says we should retaliate against Syria with missile

by Cara Bentley

As the Prime Minister and Jeremy Corbyn disagree over whether or not to use weapons against Syria, DUP Christian politician Jim Shannon tells Premier: "I am fully and totally supportive of our Prime Minister Theresa May in this. I think we have to respond."

The US, UK and France have blamed President Bashar Al Assad of an alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma in Syria at the weekend and are now deciding what reaction the West should have. 

The Prime Minister has committed to some sort of response saying there is a 'need for action' but has not specified any further than that. The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has accused her of 'waiting for instructions' from Donald Trump. 

Meanwhile, Russia have again sided with Assad and the Russian Ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, has said: "The Syrian government had been repeatedly warning for at least a month that rebels prepared to stage a provocation with chemical weapons in this very area." The embassy say there is no evidence for a chemical attack: "Russian services for chemical and radiological security visited the suspected site of the incident and did not find any traces of chemical substances. No persons treated for chemical poisoning were found in local hospitals." and are therefore warning the West against any action. 

With the West in broad agreement that an attack did take place - the variations of opinions rotate around what to do next. The MP for Strangford, Jim Shannon explained that he did think action was necessary and went further than Theresa May, saying: "There has to be a missile attack and response to the chemical attacks on innocent civilians in Syria as there was before and there needs to be again.

"We have to do something – let's do it sooner rather than later."

When asked how the UK could guarantee this would not cause the damage that many fear it could, Mr Shannon said: "We have to look at how Syria deliver their chemical weapons – they deliver them through their aeroplanes and dropping the barrel bombs upon the innocents and civilians."

The solution to him was clear: "If it was me...the targets have to be the Syrian air force.

"We need to take away their access and options of being able to do the same again and I think it has to be retaliatory for a number of reasons: there has to be a serious lesson sent out to the Syrians and to their allies in Iran and Russia that you cannot attack innocent civilians, kill people, destroy their lives, injure them for long term."

To listen to the full interview with Jim Shannon MP and Premier's Cara Bentley, click here:

When asked about Corbyn's concern that violence would cause more harm than good he replied: "It's a good that Jeremy Corbyn is not the Prime Minister."

"We need to do something and I think that our Prime Minister is of a mind to do something" he added, "Let's not dally about."

The MP explained that he was on the side of the 'innocent' people being caught up in the violence and encouraged a response that would show the UK's intolerance of such behaviour: "The only way of stopping someone who continues to be violent, destructive, murderous and surgical in the way that they carry out their actions against innocent people is to stop them being able to have the capabilities to be able to do it and I think that's what we're targeting and I would hope that the Prime Minister and the President of the United States will be targeting the weapons of war and by doing so taking away the ability to wage war."

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