UK Syria bombing vote: The online world reacts

Blog: As British jets return from their first bombing raid over Syria, politicians and citizens have been having their say over the UK's expansion of military action.

Narrated

2 min read

The New Arab

03 Dec, 2015

The RAF launched its first raid on Syrian targets just hours after the vote [Getty]

While many world leaders have remained tight-lipped in the wake of the British parliament's vote for military action in Syria, ordinary citizens have taken to social media to have their say.

President Obama bucked the trend, commenting from the White House that he "welcomed" the vote, along with reports of increased German involvement.

Washington has sought to enlist additional support for the anti-IS campaign in the wake of the attacks in Paris.

Obama said the Islamic State group was "a global threat that must be defeated by a global response". He praised the UK and Germany as demonstrating the coalition's "unity and resolve".

The great and the good of the social media world have also been weighing in on both sides of the debate.

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The right-wing Daily Mail, a newspaper not exactly known for its pacifism was one of few mainstream media outlets to ask the big question:

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The Telegraph, known popularly as The Torygraph for its ideological proximity to Britain's ruling Conservative party, highlighted how many of the opposition shadow cabinet had voted against their leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and endorsed the government's bid to bomb.

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The Telegraph also featured the speech of Hilary Benn, who many saw as the star of the debate.

Benn, the Labour opposition shadow foreign secretary, rebelled against his party leader and delivered what many thought to be the most convincing arguments on behalf of the government - though not everyone was a fan.

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The outcome of the vote itself was largely a foregone conclusion - it is more unusual for Western legislatures to vote against going to war - but there was one political development that no analyst, pundit or commentator had foreseen.

Footballer Stan Collymore, a retired centre-forward from just outside Birmingham, was so disgusted by the number of Labour party MPs voting for military action that he resigned his membership - and joined the Scottish Nationalists instead.

No, this really happened.

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